Ad Disclosure
Race for the No. 1 class? Alabama matches Ohio State in ESPN Top 300 commits
Published:
For most of the offseason, it’s appeared that Ohio State would run away with the top-ranked recruiting class in 2022. The Buckeyes have been piling up the commitments from 4- and 5-star athletes for quite some time.
Alabama has caught up, though.
Monday morning, the Crimson Tide received a verbal pledge from linebacker Shawn Murphy, a 4-star prospect out of Manassas, Virginia. He was the 11th player ranked in ESPN’s Top 300 to commit to Alabama in the 2022 class.
That number ties Ohio State for the most.
Alabama just got its 3rd top-40 commitment in July as ESPN 300 linebacker Shawn Murphy, ranked No. 38 overall, just committed to the #CrimsonTide.#Alabama now has 11 ESPN 300 commitments overall. @theicedupshawn pic.twitter.com/tmOIQnbEFh
— Tom VanHaaren (@TomVH) July 25, 2021
The Buckeyes still own the nation’s top-ranked recruiting class in 2022 and there’s some distance between them and the Crimson Tide right now. Per 247Sports, Alabama sits at No. 5. Penn State, Notre Dame and LSU currently own the No. 2-4 spots.
But there’s still a lot of time for things to change between now and the Early Signing Period in December.
Ohio State currently has 17 players committed to its 2022 class. A total of 15 have a 4- or 5-star ranking. Alabama has 12 verbal pledges at the moment, 11 of which are considered blue-chip prospects.
It should be an interesting race over the next five months between the two national championship competitors.
Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB