On a night where the Crimson Tide defeated rival Auburn on the basketball court, the talk around Tuscaloosa on Wednesday was not Alabama’s 79-75 victory over the Tigers, but rather the commitment of Ryan Williams.
A highly-touted wide receiver in the 2024 class who reclassified from 2025, Williams had previously been an Alabama commit since October of 2022, but decided to decommit from the Crimson Tide earlier this month and re-open his recruitment when news broke that former head coach Nick Saban was retiring.
However, the five-star prospect would announce Wednesday night that he would be re-committing to the Crimson Tide’s 2024 class, becoming what was likely the first big recruiting win of the Kalen DeBoer era at Alabama.
For an Alabama wide receiver room that has to replace their top three pass catchers in Jermaine Burton, Isaiah Bond, and Amari Niblack next season, it’s hard to picture Williams not being an instant impact player in Alabama’s new look offense in 2024.
BREAKING: Five-Star Plus+ WR Ryan Williams tells me he has Committed to Alabama!
The Top 5 Recruit in the ‘24 Class chose the Crimson Tide over Auburn, Texas A&M, and LSU
“Welcome to the DeBoer Era 😉”https://t.co/mNugtjxg5a pic.twitter.com/O9oMG5d7l0
— Hayes Fawcett (@Hayesfawcett3) January 24, 2024
An in-state product out of Saraland High School in Alabama, Williams is considered as the No. 6 overall player in the 2024 class according to the 247Sports Composite, as well as the No. 3 wide receiver nationally. The five-star is also the back-to-back Gatorade Player of the Year in Alabama, and has over 4,000+ all-purpose yards across the last three seasons combined, as well as 70+ touchdowns for one of the state’s top teams.
A truly electrifying player, don’t be surprised if Williams is one of Alabama’s top wide receivers instantly next season, as well as factoring into the return game in some form.