Alabama finishes strong

By Ken Rogers

Published: February 6, 2008

Alabama was going to land a great recruiting class anyway. But signing day commitments from coveted five-star wide receiver Julio Jones of Foley and four-star outside linebacker Jerrell Harris of Gadsden likely cemented Nick Saban’s program with the nation’s top recruiting class today.
Jones and Harris brought the class to 32 commitments. According to rivals.com, three of those are five-star athletes (scale of five)—offensive lineman Tyler Love of Birmingham, Jones and Burton Scott of Prichard. Harris is one of 19 four-star athletes in the class and there are eight three-stars.
By mid-afternoon, rivals.com had Alabama ranked first in the country with its class, ahead of, in order, Notre Dame, Florida, Miami and Oklahoma. Georgia, Florida State, Ohio State, Michigan and Southern Cal rounded out the top 10.
One of the signees, four-star defensive end/linebacker Courtney Upshaw of Eufaula, said he felt special pride in being part of the elite class.
“It just adds to the day,“ Upshaw said. “I just heard we got Julio, too. It was good to get him. I feel great about (the class). My name will be one of the the names that people when Alabama gets back to where they used to be. That feels great.“
Saban’s press conference is scheduled for 4 p.m. today to discuss the class.