Four-star QB Blake Barnett, the No. 56 ranked player on ESPN, announced that he will commit to Alabama over Oregon on Wednesday.
The Crimson Tide finally land a signal-caller after losing their commitment from four-star QB Ricky Town.
“I think when I went back there and speaking to the coaches ahead of time, that’s when I really started to figure out that that was the place I really wanted to be,” Barnett told ESPN.com.
“I think academically, athletically and as a person as well, I think it will develop me the best for my life in general. I fell in love with the campus itself and with the facilities obviously, but I think what Alabama can develop me to be is what really convinced me.”
Barnett says his relationship with Nick Saban and Lane Kiffin were major factors into his commitment.
“When I went back there, I got to see Coach Saban quite a bit — I probably met with him six times or so over three days,” he said. “So we spent a lot of time together and I had spoken with him several times on the phone, so I’ve built a great relationship with Coach Saban and Coach Kiffin as well, since he is my main recruiter. Those are the guys who will be coaching me, and I feel very comfortable with them.”
Barnett originally committed to Notre Dame, but admits that his decision to be with the Fighting Irish was too early.
“I think I committed too early,” he said of his initial Fighting Irish decision. “I made an impulse decision based off of emotion with my family. We kind of rushed in to things. I regret that [committing to Notre Dame] to this day. We just kind of made it off of impulse and weren’t really thinking of things logically, and I realized that wasn’t the place for me and that’s not where I wanted to be.”
Barnett had 2,300 passing yards and 700 rushing yards as a junior in high school this past year. He also had 22 touchdowns as well as 13 more on the ground.