Justin Taylor: Safely signed with Kentucky, speaks candidly on Alabama
Ex-Alabama RB recruit Justin Taylor on Crimson Tide: "... As far as pulling the scholarship, I think they did me wrong. I was the No. 7 to commit, that’s all I’ve got to say. I was committed to them for a year. They could’ve handled it better.” (AJC)
After star Atlanta running back Justin Taylor was safely signed by another SEC school on Wednesday, he was ready to speak more candidly about his recruitment by national champion Alabama.
A 5-foot-10, 208-pounder from North Atlanta High School, Taylor signed scholarship papers with Kentucky rather than to wait to sign with Alabama in January 2013, a promise made by coach Nick Saban two weeks ago.
Taylor committed to the Crimson Tide around a year ago, but was informed by Nick Saban in January that he couldn’t sign this year. Saban said it was because of Taylor’s knee injury that cut short his senior season, asking him to enroll next January in a practice known as grayshirting. Speculation became rampant in the college recruiting world that instead it was a reason to oversign at Alabama and then manage the roster to keep as many recruits as possible within the rules.
Loading ...“I knew I wasn’t going to Alabama when I met with Coach Saban at my high school a couple of weeks ago,” Taylor said. “When Coach Saban came down, I just had this feeling in my heart. I prayed about it and God told me … and I know this sounds kind of crazy … but God told me that Alabama was not the place for me.”
Taylor ended up picking Kentucky instead of Ole Miss after a whirlwind courtship within the last few days. North Atlanta coach Stanley Pritchett, who is also Taylor’s guardian and a former SEC and NFL running back, was in favor of signing on Wednesday rather than waiting on Alabama’s promises for next year.
“We trusted the coaches at Kentucky,” Pritchett said. “We felt comfortable with them, and they promised to take care of Justin. I think everything turned out well, ultimately. I wanted him to go to college right now because when you’re the first person in your family to graduate from high school, you don’t need to be sitting out. You never know what might happen in December or next year at Alabama.
“I wanted Justin to go ahead and get started in college, and I’ve always told him that. But I was going to support him with whatever decision he wanted to make.”
After winning the BCS championship earlier this month, Alabama finished Wednesday with the nation’s No. 1-ranked recruiting class, according to Rivals. The Crimson Tide signed 26 players, including eight from the state of Georgia. Last February, Taylor was the seventh player to commit for Alabama’s 2012 class. From that day for most of 11 months, Taylor wore an Alabama hat virtually everywhere he went.
Within the span of a month, Nick Saban has won both national championships in football and recruiting (AP)
“If you look back on it, you see that it was a numbers game [with scholarships], that Alabama really wanted to sit out because of the numbers,” Pritchett said. “It kind of makes you mad, but you also feel good that he didn’t go there. Because if he had gone to Alabama, he would’ve probably just have been another number.”
On Wednesday, Pritchett and Taylor called Alabama assistant Chris Rumph to inform him on the decision to sign with an SEC rival. “[Rumph] asked what Justin was going to do because they wanted to go after some other people,” said Pritchett. “[Rumph] said go ahead and do what you’ve got to do.”
On Wednesday night, Taylor was happy to be finished with a troubling few weeks, and looked forward to playing against his former team, Alabama. “The way they talked to me, they respected me … but as far as pulling the scholarship, I think they did me wrong. I was the No. 7 to commit, that’s all I’ve got to say. I was committed to them for a year. They could’ve handled it better.”
- RELATED: A DL from Alabama, who had been committed to the Crimson Tide since last September and is recovering from a recent knee surgery, may have had the same type of jolting experience as Justin Taylor, according this story by al.com’s Mike Herndon
– By Michael Carvell, AJC Recruiting Blog
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536 comments Add your comment
CRIMSON HAMMAH
February 2nd, 2012
6:51 pm
they could have been somebody . they could have been contenders …but no – impatience got the best of them. genesis 25
Wham Bam
February 2nd, 2012
6:55 pm
I hope you have a great college career at Kentucky Justin. However there are thousands of kids nation wide who would love to play for Saban at ALA. You had your foot in the door. You felt slighted but you could have proven your worth playin for a high profile college team if you had gray shirted. I know its a numbers game but playing for National Championships is what every ball player dreams of. Good luck Wildcat
CRIMSON HAMMAH
February 2nd, 2012
7:07 pm
saban did what was best for justin taylor
Pitbull
February 2nd, 2012
7:18 pm
Face it, Saban’s a football pimp and he treats his players and apparently his recruits like street walkers.
CRIMSON HAMMAH
February 2nd, 2012
7:25 pm
the great advantages for january enrollment is well documented ….taylor philon could have had their cakes and eaten them too….a full hs sr yr…it was a blessing in disquise but was blind to it by pride ignorance impatience
Dawg for life
February 2nd, 2012
8:35 pm
Congratulations Justin. I have been watching your story and hoping for the best for you. I am not naive and understand the economics of college football and why Saban did what he did. And I know what a national championship does for your school and athletic program. But I still don’t agree with what Saban did to you, Justin. It seems some coaches are only interested in winning and not in developing young men and setting an example. But I know one thing for sure, one day the chickens will come home to roost for Bama. I’ll take my degree and my children’s admittance to UGA over Bama any day. Despite all their “glory “and national championships they are still only Alabama. Justin, I will be one of your biggest fans next year! Stay healthy and succeed in the classroom too.
Thomas Fowler
February 2nd, 2012
9:24 pm
Even after all that had happened with Justin’s recruitment, the assistant coach actually says that we want to after other recruits. Thought they were committed to him, but actions do speak louder than words. Taking off of Seinfeld, it is one thing to get the commitment, but the trick is HOLDING onto the commitment. It is funny how someone said that Taylor was wavering on his commitment to Alabama, yet there is no evidence of that being a fact(well maybe on Bama Online, Tider Insider, or Paul Finebaum.)
wrightsville Dawg
February 2nd, 2012
9:38 pm
so how much longer is the ncaa going to sit back and let Alabama keep playing with these young men,s lives? Wining is a great thing . Messing with a young man,s education is another . need to mandate scolarships to 4 years ! no grayshirting and limit the E.E. 25 is 25 and that,s the limit . so someone please tell satan that 25 is the limit .
Blackoutanyone?
February 2nd, 2012
10:11 pm
Did anyone catch CMR’s comments on ESPNU? He was asked about this years class having more drama unlike years past when his class was full prior to signing day. He said the guys UGA had commited were of high character guys and stayed commited. I suppose he didn’t mean the kid who flipped from vandy.
The truth
February 2nd, 2012
10:23 pm
The kid will need to redshirt regardless. I bet he doesn’t play in 2012. The reason why players want to sign with Bama is they want to win. Did Georgia recruit Taylor? Why didn’t richt offer him? Oh
I guess because he recruited two healthy rb ’s. You dawg fans need to stop hating and start working on the Saban process .
Dawg Whisperer
February 2nd, 2012
10:26 pm
Blackout… what is worse a kid changing commitments like Tomlinson to Bammer from GT or Saban reneging on a scholarship offer for the current year on two young men who were committed for several months due to the misfortune of an injury? I’m sorry but your coach is not occupying the high moral ground compared to Richt in my estimation.
Jeff
February 2nd, 2012
10:27 pm
Stop all of your moaning about Saban. The kid is going to a great SEC school in Kentucky. These players back track and do the same thing to the coaches. I don’t feel one bit sorry for this kid. I’m glad for him!
CRIMSON HAMMAH
February 2nd, 2012
10:39 pm
Saban did not renege on scholly – in the kid’s best interest he was not ready for summer 2012
CRIMSON HAMMAH
February 2nd, 2012
10:42 pm
Saban doing his job – doing what is best for everybody – grayshirt best solution
Dawg Whisperer
February 2nd, 2012
10:43 pm
Crimson, I said for the current year.
Dawg Whisperer
February 2nd, 2012
10:51 pm
Grayshirt is best for Bama, not for these two young men. They clearly wanted to be part of the current class and re-hab on Bama’s dime.
CRIMSON HAMMAH
February 2nd, 2012
10:57 pm
what they wanted wrong …..the best coach in the world knew what he was doing
CRIMSON HAMMAH
February 2nd, 2012
10:57 pm
-
CRIMSON HAMMAH
February 2nd, 2012
10:57 pm
dash
Dawg Whisperer
February 2nd, 2012
11:10 pm
Good night all.
CRIMSON HAMMAH
February 2nd, 2012
11:34 pm
dawg whisperer – cool post
CRIMSON HAMMAH
February 2nd, 2012
11:35 pm
funny how brian kelly notre dame head coach = expressed my thoughts from yesterday – today!
Vince Doodly
February 3rd, 2012
12:21 am
There are some people you just dont let in the house. Bobby Knight and Nick Saban are two. John Calapari would be another.
Bob
February 3rd, 2012
12:31 am
I love bama fans defending this crap, eventually it will either end up being an NCAA rule or they will screw up and get probation, I guess that’s why saban failed at Miami, he couldn’t lie to players and have them sitting in neutral until he needed them to play. The NCAA needs to only allow teams to sign enough players as scholarships available, bama had less than 15 available this year but somehow got 26. Even a moronic bama fan can see 15>26.
Rick S
February 3rd, 2012
1:18 am
Saban is all about Saban so these recruits should beware of all his empty promises. This will not be the last time this type of issue happens with verbal promises not being honored. It’s your choice!
hunkerdown
February 3rd, 2012
2:49 am
What goes around comes around. One day it will catxh up to him.
hunkerdown
February 3rd, 2012
2:54 am
To truth
CMR has keep shollies intact even after players get hurt their senior hs season. Even players who are not highly reruited he has remained loyal to them. He also does not over sign. That can’t be said of all coaches. The truth.
Crimson Crush
February 3rd, 2012
3:24 am
@Bob
“The NCAA needs to only allow teams to sign enough players as scholarships available,”
=====================================================================
And when THAT doesn’t work to hold Bama back in the future … the slackers and whiners of college football can start calling for only allowing 55 scholarships to be handed out … claiming that is all you need anyway .
I can hear em now “hat number works for the NFL … it is obviously all an upright moral team needs … not like those cheating evil teams like Bama who hoard all the good players .”
That HAS been the same crying a** argument already made when whiners convinced the NCAA to start limiting opportunities for youth to get a free education to 100 … then when it was obvious that wasn’t going to do anything to close the gap …. whittle it on down to 85 . And it has ALREADY been used yet again in recent history to claim ” 65 is really enough ” ( which is why I say … give the whiners and slackers time … they WILL get to 55 … )
All of which is funny . You have people CLAIMING to only “care about the kids” … and their “solutions” are only geared towards stopping teams like Alabama from dominating college football by limiting the number of kids who even get a chance to attend a major university in the first place .
Justin Taylor would have had his spot at UA IF the weak minded hadn’t been allowed to hold sway . All but admitting they didn’t give a damn “about the kids” , people like Overwhining.com CELEBRATED the fact that Taylor got caught up in a squeeze THEY helped manufacture ,
That is why so many of the “it is all about the kids” crowd raise unholy hell even when a young man is put on medical redshirt and given the rest of his education without ever stepping foot into a weight room or on to a practice field . They could care less about ANYTHING but Bama domination of their sorry a** programs . They will tell any lie , come up any half witted “fix” , complain about the new problems their last “fix” created … then go back to whining once again . Rinse and repeat .
This has been going on for DECADES and the biggest effect it has had was to create a rule book so thick and convoluted Georgia Tech can’t even lie about giving away a free suit without getting hammered . Georgia can’t even let their players sell a sniffable jockstrap on EBay without someone getting suspended . LOL
Meawhile … no matter WHAT has been attempted in the past to insure equal outcomes
Bama … Bama remains Bama
and the rest … they remain everyone else
Rob
February 3rd, 2012
6:05 am
————————————————————————————————————————————–
CRIMSON HAMMAH – February 2nd, 2012 – 12:26 am
if he was in such great shape why did he have only the 2 scrubs of the league wanting his services
—————————————————————————————————————————————
Yeah. And the one he ended up signing with wasn’t even interested until Mr. Pritchett and the media started raising a ruckus over the grayshirt offer.
————————————————————————————————————————————–
Kerryb – February 2nd, 2012 – 1:24 pm
My guess is that the offered would have been pulled next year and I bet that’s what Stanley Pritchard suspected would happen.
UO5150 – February 2nd, 2012 – 1:25 pm
Bama guy – what your saying is “heresay”. We will not know for sure if Saban would have recruited next year or not. I think Saban recruiting him again when there is a whole new bag of recruits out there is taking a risk. I think that’s why this young man signed with UK. It was just a risk to wait.
————————————————————————————————————————————-
Actually, Saban was willing to put the grayshirt offer in writing for Taylor. Taylor himself talks about it in this article: http://blogs.ajc.com/recruiting/2012/01/15/nick-saban-tells-star-atlanta-rb-to-wait-until-next-year-to-sign-with-alabama/?cxntfid=blogs_recruiting I really doubt he’d do that and then rescind the offer. That would be a damning blow to his future recruiting. Based on some of the other nonsense I’ve seen here I have no doubt some of the brain dead posters would be calling for his execution if something like that happened.
Underdog
February 3rd, 2012
7:39 am
I hate it for the kid and struggle with this issue myself as I have a son who is a college football player and have seen this done to other kids. It is always a fine line around commitments from these kids, them switching at the last moment and the schools being stuck with not being able to get their rosters filled. As long as the coaches are up front and tell the kid within 90 days of signing day that they may be a grayshirt candidate then I have no problem with it. Otherwise I think they should stick to their word, just like I think the players should. I am not a Bama fan, and not necessarily a Saban fan, but like all coaches, he was simply managing to get the best possible class he could. Unfortunately two players were asked to wait until next year….he did not pull their schollys like other coaches have.
CRIMSON HAMMAH
February 3rd, 2012
8:35 am
scoop on philon…per a source very close to situation…saban told philon 2 months ago that it was likely he would just get a grayshirt and to explore options…philon looked into juco and community college – did not like those options and just blew it off thinking bama would still have room for him….then he was told 2 weeks ago – definitely a grayshirt and the hard head still did not believe it
CRIMSON HAMMAH
February 3rd, 2012
8:36 am
and he sent in his loi into bama and they did not accept it…
Blackoutanyone?
February 3rd, 2012
8:39 am
Dawg whisperer…..”what is worse a kid changing commitments like Tomlinson to Bammer from GT or Saban reneging on a scholarship offer for the current year on two young men who were committed for several months due to the misfortune of an injury? ”
Tomlinson never comitted to GT so he didn’t change his commitment. Not that I have a problem with kids changing their minds. I thought it was interesting CMR said the prospects who don’t change their mind have “high character” yet he spent the final weeks attempting to flip kids. Also does that mean the kid who he flipped from Vandy doesn’t have “high character”? The rest of your comment is opinion… but I would disagree.
http://blogs.ajc.com/recruiting/2012/02/01/justin-taylor-safely-signed-with-kentucky-speaks-candidly-on-alabama/?cxntfid=blogs_recruiting
I hope these situations are handled better in the future… but sometimes a coach has to make tough decision. Sometimes a coach has to take heat for those decisions… and that is the difference between CMR and Saban. CMR doesn’t have what it takes. Never has never will.
Blackoutanyone?
February 3rd, 2012
8:53 am
Wrong link…. here ya go Dawgwhisperer…
http://blogs.ajc.com/recruiting/2009/07/21/carver-columbus-coach-bans-uga-recruiters/
Brown Dog
February 3rd, 2012
10:14 am
I’m with Blackout on this one. Not comfortable with how it played out, but none of us know the facts.
Saban insists that kids who are grey-shirt candidates are told that from the start. Insiders insist Justin knew this. (The coach of the Mobile kid says everybody knew a GS was a possibility.) The final decision with both kids, though, came in December when the final pieces of the class fell in place. The key question: Did the kids know this was a possibility? If so, they gambled and didn’t get what he wanted. If they didn’t know, this sucks.
In a perfect world, no kid would give a commitment without a guaranteed scholarship waiting. The key thing, though, is what did he commit to? If the school was up front, and his high school coaches and he knew that a grey shirt was possible, then you pay your nickel and you take your chances with the best football program in America.
I suspect that Realist, in part, is right. That Justin committed to Alabama because it was the best offer he had, but he expected a better offer down the road. There were whispers all over this blog that he was looking around, even before he was injured. Once he got hurt, magically, all those other suiters melted away, and he was stuck with an offer that had a big old asterisk alongside.
That, of course, is pure speculation. Like all the other opinions on here.
CRIMSON HAMMAH
February 3rd, 2012
10:47 am
both these kids seem unusually – hard-headed arrogant stubborn jack azzez
Brown Dog
February 3rd, 2012
1:13 pm
Give it a rest, Hammah. It’s their decision, not yours. Had things been a little different, they would have been part of Alabama’s class. Your comment is really out of line.
chris miller
February 4th, 2012
9:06 am
over in your tweets section, someone with the username “mojo5491″ states Alabama is the best in the SEC in graduation rate. WRONG. That would be Vanderbilt. Seven ACC schools have higher rates than Alabama. Not sure where this person gets his or her information. Tuscaloosa Chamber of Commerce, perhaps.
Crimson Crush
February 4th, 2012
10:14 am
Who in the h*** bothers to even bothers to “fact check” the “tweet” section besides a Tard to begin with ? But let’s say you could help yourself … and we take you at your word for what ever it was you think you “caught” .
Well then … if ONLY 7 ACC teams have higher graduation rates than Bama … by default this AJC article linked below would seem to put put Jawja Tek AND Jawja behind Bama . Thanks for the heads up
Capital LOLs for the nitwit nitpicker . Can you spell FAIL yet or would you like to buy a vowel ?
… ” Georgia Tech ranks last among ACC schools in graduation rates for football and men’s basketball programs” ….
http://www.ajc.com/sports/georgia-tech/looking-at-georgia-tech-1210059.html
chris miller
February 4th, 2012
10:25 am
A “tard” that knew what he wrote without having to “fact-check” it first since I’d just done research on that very subject less than 48 hours ago after a friend requested it. Now run along and take your wife/cousin to that pig pickin’ this afternoon like you promised. Just don’t let people pick on her too much.
chris miller
February 4th, 2012
10:29 am
Here’s some more “fact-checking” for you:
Most major NCAA infractions since 1987: Alabama, 13.
Conferences with the fewest number of teams having a grad rate above 70 percent in 2011: SEC.
I could go on, but the more “fact-checking” I do, the worse Alabama looks.
Lakedawg
February 4th, 2012
10:50 am
The recent change to 25 rule should be called the “Saban rule ” , instituted solely because of him. And next year even tougher rules coming such as 4 year schollys and early enrollees counting against current year, again strictly because of “Saban”.
But if thats the only way to get him to do whats right, then pass the rules he cannot “manage” around.
GO BIG BLUE1 GO BIG BLUE1 GO BIG BLUE1
Crimson Crush
February 4th, 2012
11:25 am
No point arguing with me chrissie boy just because don’t like the additional point I brought up about your “observation” … argue with the NCAA who put out the numbers you don’t like or the AJC who reported on them in the recent article I linked …
Crimson Crush
February 4th, 2012
11:33 am
Now you are just pulling numbers outta your a** lol . Bama has been put been found guilty in FIVE major violations investigations … TOTAL … Georgia SIX … odd how that works isn’t it ?
keep talking smack and I might just be forced to humiliate you even further
Crimson Crush
February 4th, 2012
11:42 am
I missed that chrissie is probably a Jacket … no wonder he got so hacked for linking an AJC article placing GT in such a pathetic academic light . Either way … whether he pops up A or B … more major infraction cases at UGA or worse academic success rates by athletes at GT as tracked by the NCAA … he is already covered
chris miller
February 4th, 2012
4:33 pm
Yeah … whatever you say, “Crimson Crush.” You are right, though … so let’s spread out those infractions to include the entire conference:
http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/story/15304779/infractions-scoreboard-nearly-everybody-gets-in-on-the-fun
As for Tech’s graduation rate vs. Alabama’s (or anyone else’s for that matter), in 2001, The Princeton Review ranked Tech as one of the 10 toughest schools in America from which to graduate, and it hasn’t gotten any easier. Meanwhile, 9 percent of Tech’s players are special admits. I think Alabama might have once had a third-string tight end with the last name Princeton, and 21 percent of its players are special admits. Tech’s graduation rate is so low because unlike Alabama, school there is f#$%ing hard. I’m surprised it’s as high as it is.
This marks the very last exchange I will ever have with someone who uses emoticons. Seriously … come on.
View From the Cumberlands » Blog Archive » Mike Slive’s Saban rule isn’t working
February 4th, 2012
5:57 pm
[...] Until two weeks before National Signing Day. That’s when Taylor was approached by Saban, who paid a visit to North Atlanta High School. It seems that a knee injury — which cut short Taylor’s senior season — had Alabama concerned. Taylor doesn’t think the injury will limit him come fall, but Alabama apparently thought it might. So much so, in fact, that Saban decided to ask Taylor if he would be willing to grayshirt for a year and sign with Alabama in 2013. [...]
mark mcmahan
February 4th, 2012
8:59 pm
Typical ‘bama. Typical saban.
Black Mountain NC Bulldog
February 5th, 2012
9:04 am
This guy Saban is just like their beloved Bear was. These kids are just pawns, for Bamer.
Just look at how they treated a man like Bill Curry.
I am glad this kid got out of there before became another one of their football casualties.
I know this may be blasphemous to many in the Bulldog nation, but I would rather have no National Titles, ” up until now” with Coach Richt. Than have two with Saban.
Brown Dog
February 5th, 2012
9:25 am
Black Mountain, I see you see the world as black or white. Your sainted Dooley went through players like cigarette cartons. Your coach talks about the ethics of kids sticking to their commitments, but spends the last month of recruiting in a frantic effort to persuade other players to renege on their words.
Neither of us know Nick Saban. Neither of us know Mark Richt. I hope that it’s only for the purposes of this blog that you see each of them in such absolute terms. Or maybe stereotypes is the better word.