Five-star Damon Payne committed to Alabama on Sunday.
The Belleville (Mich.) defensive tackle announced the decision on CBS Sports HQ and released a pre-produced commitment video.
In Payne, the Tide gets a 6-foot-4, 295-pound recruit with both strength and athleticism. He chose the Tide over Arizona State, USC, Kentucky and Michigan State and also had offers from Georgia, Ohio State, Michigan and more.
“I just knew where I wanted to go,” he said. “I had it set in my mind, didn’t have any second thoughts so I went ahead and made the decision. For a little over a year, I’ve known, but I didn’t go for it right away because I wanted to see if there were any other schools that I wanted to pick instead but they stayed solid in my mind. During that time, I looked into all the schools that had recruited me, but I knew that’s where I wanted to go.”
