Alabama Flips Commitment from 4-Star Florida State DE/OLB VanDarius Cowan
Written by Ryan Wright
Twitter: @HogManInLA
Months of hard work for the Florida State staff slipped away in an instant while months of hard work was rewarded for the Alabama staff on Sunday when Palm Beach Gardens High School’s outside linebacker/defensive end VanDarius Cowan committed to the Crimson Tide.
Cowan earned his way into 4-star status racking up 104 tackles with 13 tackles for a loss and seven sacks during his junior campaign. College coaches were tripping over one another to get time with the 6’4”, 217 pound, hard hitting defender. The Florida talent was in the neighborhood of 30 offers when he committed to Alabama. The teams seeking his talents included Clemson, Florida, Michigan State, LSU, Georgia, Pitt, North Carolina, Ohio State, Penn State, USC, and Tennessee.
FSU secured Cowan’s commitment on Dec. 29 but on Sunday everything changed. Cowan posted his Roll Tide commitment stating, “I’d like to thank Coach Fisher, Coach Miller, and the entire FSU family. After talking it over with my family I’ve decided to decommit from Florida State and commit to The University of Alabama. This was the best fit for me and my family moving forward. I’d also like to thank all the schools that have offered me, but I will be shutting down my recruitment from here on out. Least but not last ROLL TIDE ROLL!!”
Depending on the recruiting service, Alabama has secured the No. 1 recruiting class in each of the past five seasons and is on their way to sixth with a solid haul of eight verbal commitments to the 2017 group. Seven of the eight are considered 4-star players with Aaron Sterling being the only 3-star recruit on the board. Alabama signed a pair of 5-star linebackers in the 2016 class with Ben Davis and Lyndell Wilson and now have a pair of 4-stars in junior college talent Gary Johnson and Cowan in the 2017 class.
Alabama Crimson Tide 2017 Verbal Commit List (8)
RB Najee Harris, 6’1.5”, 210 lbs, Antioch Senior, Antioch, CA
RB Brian Robinson, 6’1”, 215 lbs, Hillcrest HS, Tuscaloosa, AL
OL Alex Leatherwood, 6’5”, 298 lbs, Washington HS, Pensacola, FL
DE Aaron Sterling, 6’1”, 270 lbs, Stephenson HS, Stone Mountain, GA
LB VanDarius Cowan, 6-4, 217, Palm Beach Gardens HS, Palm Beach Gardens, FL
LB Gary Johnson, 6-1, 225, Dodge City C.C., Dodge City, KS
SS Xavier McKinney, 6’1”, 185 lbs, Roswell HS, Roswell, GA
ATH Chadarius Townsend, 6’0”, 180 lbs, Tanner HS, Tanner, AL
Photo credit: twitter.com; Cowan with Alabama head coach Nick Saban.