Nick Saban on landing transfer commitment from LSU cornerback Eli Ricks

Eli Ricks, a former five-star recruit and LSU cornerback, is officially a member of the Alabama Crimson Tide roster after committing to head coach Nick Saban and the program over two months ago.

“Eli Ricks was the starting corner at LSU, hurt his shoulder last year, so he missed, I think more than half the season,” Alabama head coach Nick Saban said of his new cornerback. “So, obviously both of our corners Josh Jobe being a senior, Jaden Armour-Davis going out for the draft. [It’s a] good opportunity for him and [we] certainly had some experience in depth at that position for us.”

In 14 games over two seasons with the Tigers, Ricks had 31 tackles and five interceptions, including two pick-sixes. He was a five-star recruit out of Florida’s IMG Academy in the Class of 2020 and was the No. 4 recruit in the state of Florida, according to the On3 Consensus, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.

Out of high school, Ricks held plenty of offers, including Alabama, Georgia, Clemson and Ohio State.

Ricks announced he was transferring from LSU last month in the wake of Ed Orgeron’s departure. His final four schools were Alabama, Georgia, USC and Ohio State. He talked about his decision to transfer during the season, saying that former LSU head coach Ed Orgeron was the main reason he committed in the first place, and Orgeron’s departure led to Ricks following suit.

Orgeron reached an agreement with LSU to leave the program after the regular season.

When listing his top four schools, he spoke about his relationship with Nick Saban. Ricks said he used to talk to Alabama on a daily basis before signing with LSU. He called Saban a “great coach” but never made it to Tuscaloosa to visit. To understand what the city is like, he’d been talking to a good family friend and current Crimson Tide quarterback Bryce Young.

Ricks will join former five-star recruit Jermaine Burton out of Georgia as well as Georgia Tech transfer Jahmyr Gibbs in Tuscaloosa next season. They’ll join the 25 incoming freshman in Alabama’s No. 2 overall recruiting class in 2022. They trail only Texas A&M.

“All the guys have played well when they played for their team, and we all thought that they would be positive additions to our team,” Saban said about the trio of transfers.