The Alabama Crimson Tide are on the receiving end of the biggest commitment flips of the 2025 cycle.
Four-star Duncanville (Texas) quarterback Keelon Russell has officially flipped his commitment from SMU to Alabama. The move comes after Russell spent the weekend in Tuscaloosa on an official visit.
Russell is one of the top ranked prospects in the country, recently rising to the No. 47 overall prospect in the Rivals250 rankings. He also ranks as the No. six quarterback in the class as well as the No. 9 prospect in the state of Texas.
Russell, previously the highest ranked SMU commit, had been committed to the Mustangs since September 21, 2023. Alabama officially entered the race with an offer earlier this spring on April 24.
The Tide were recruiting Russell for much longer than that though, remaining in constant communication throughout the entirety of the offseason. At one point, Alabama even told Russell they planned to offer him considered him their No. 1 target at the position. The offensive staff made a trip to Duncanville this spring on, Russell’s birthday, to finally dish out the offer.
When he received the offer, Russell told Rivals, “[The offer] was a dream and I feel like this is what’s going to be a life changer for me, if it’s not already is a life changer for me. This really takes a leap for me and I just feel like sooner or later, the stuff that is going to be happening is going to skyrocket for me.”
Coming into the weekend visit, Russell felt comfortable with his relationships on staff of Kalen DeBoer and others.
His primary goal was to learn more about the offense being run and how he would fit into their plans.
“Just the Washington offense, coming from over there. I expect to see a lot of big things on the offensive side in the film room, a lot of stuff like that. With the relationships, I’m already knowing that they’re going to have that. Coach DeBoer, we’ve already built a connection over the phone. So the relationship piece is most definitely going to be there. But I’m loving what I hear about the offense from them coming from Washington for sure.”
Russell saw what he hoped to see and made the decision to flip to the Tide. He did so with others such as Florida, Ole Miss, and Oregon pursuing him as well.