Alabama Football: 5-Star Busts Prove It's Not All Written in the Stars

Larry Burton (Syndicated Writer) Not all truths are written in the stars. Looking back over the last few years, not all the big-name 5-star studs have lived up to their hype.

In 2008, Nick Saban signed a national leading class of prospects, but two of the three 5-star studs turned out to be duds, with Julio Jones turning out to be the only 5-star who played up to expectations.

Burton (BJ) Scott was a big deal when he was signed as an athlete. He started out as a receiver and that didn't pan out, so he was red shirted and moved to defensive back, but that didn't work out so well either.

He ended up leaving Alabama and is now at South Alabama.

In that same class, Tyler Love is the best tackle on a bench in the SEC if you believe he was a true 5-star recruit.

He had the size and tools to be an effective tackle, but he will end as career as a footnote player, someone who provided some backup from the bench but never in a starring role.

Julio just left for the NFL and the other two are still waiting for some kind of college glory to come their way.

In 2009, in another monster class, Alabama had four 5-star recruits come to campus. They were Nico Johnson, Trent Richardson, DJ Fluker and Dre Kirkpatrick.

All of these players went on to become starters and stars.

The 2010 season saw DeMarcus Milliner come in as Alabama's only 5-star recruit, and he too has already become a starter and a valued member of the team.

So while most of Alabama's 5-star recruits did in fact go on to glory and starting jobs, the failure of Scott and Love make a good case that all of them just don't pan out.

So who are Alabama's 5-star freshmen this year, and what are the odds that they'll make it?

The 5-star studs of the 2011 class are Dee Hart, Cyrus Kouandjio and Hasean Clinton-Dix, and though none have played a down in a regular season game yet, it seems obvious here that all three are destined for stardom with the Tide.

But only time will tell.