Alabama’s transfer portal exodus in the wake of Nick Saban’s retirement rolls on.
According to a report from ESPN’s Pete Thamel on Friday morning, highly touted Alabama freshman quarterback Julian Sayin “intends” to enter the transfer portal after initiating the process on Friday morning.
Sayin was ranked as a five-star recruit according to all major recruiting publications and was the No. 1 quarterback in the class of 2024 according to On3 Sports and ESPN’s recruiting rankings.
The California product was an early enrollee with the Tide’s program. Ironically enough, Sayin’s first day of classes fell on the same day as Nick Saban’s retirement. Like a good handful of other players who have decommitted following the bombshell news, it looks as though Sayin’s commitment to Alabama went hand-in-hand with Saban’s availability as the head coach.
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While On3 Sports had Sayin as the top overall quarterback in the class, Tennessee quarterback Jake Merklinger – for comparative purposes – is the seventeenth-ranked quarterback in the class. Merklinger was an early enrollee with the Vols program and was in Orlando for the Citrus Bowl last month.
Sayin’s decommitment from Alabama is just one move in a long string of moves that have hurt the Tide’s program. Alabama lost star safety Caleb Downs to the portal on Thursday, too. All in all, the Crimson Tide have lost five commitments from the class of 2024, one from the class of 2024, and have had several players entering the transfer portal with all the coaching movement going.
Alabama hired Washington head coach Kalen DeBoer in the wake of Saban’s retirement after he led the Huskies to the National Championship this past season. DeBoer also nearly coached quarterback Michael Penix Jr. to the Heisman Trophy award as his quarterback barely fell short of LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels.
Alabama’s departure watch will continue to roll on.
