Pulling your own guys out is sometimes the biggest win in the Transfer Portal. Jaylen Mbakwe’s choice to rejoin the Crimson Tide gave Kalen DeBoer and Alabama football a taste of that.
You’re constantly recruiting in college football, which is the new reality. Re-recruiting your own players is an almost year-round task that involves more than just searching the Transfer Portal or finding fresh players through the high school rankings.
This week, Alabama football and Kalen DeBoer experienced that firsthand during a hectic 24-hour period for 5-star freshman Jaylen Mbakwe.
Early on Monday, there were rumors that Mbakwe had been duped by another program, which offered him a seven-figure deal in exchange for him entering the Transfer Portal and maybe allowing him to play both ways. Travis Hunter’s recent success and Heisman Trophy victory would surely be alluring. It’s easy to sell that and a million dollars.
Mbakwe indicated his decision to leave Tuscaloosa on Monday afternoon by announcing his intention to use the NCAA’s Transfer Portal. As Alabama players, led by Mbakwe’s close buddy Ryan Williams, became involved and began applying the full-court push to keep Mbakwe with the Crimson Tide, the flurry was far from over.
On Monday night, Mbakwe’s status was fully up by the time everyone went to bed.
Mbakwe’s return to Alabama marks the Tide’s biggest Transfer Portal victory to date. Mbakwe is the most significant player in the portal that Alabama is aiming for.
The rumor that Mbakwe wanted to go from cornerback to wide receiver and that this was the reason he might have been considering other colleges would be intriguing. Mbakwe might get a tryout at wide receiver in a live game in a few weeks since the Tide only have four healthy scholarship wide receivers for the ReliaQuest Bowl matchup versus Michigan.
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