Alabama football picked up a commitment Sunday from a 2027 cornerback out of Georgia, and the fact that Kalen DeBoer’s staff beat the Bulldogs for him matters more than his star rating suggests.
Darrius White, a 6-foot-3, 185-pound defensive back from Creekside High School in Fairburn, Georgia, announced his pledge to the Crimson Tide. He chose Alabama over Florida State, Georgia and Cincinnati, according to Hayes Fawcett of On3 Sports and Rivals.
“IMHOME All Glory To God,” White wrote on X, with a prayer emoji.
White is a three-star prospect and Rivals ranks him as the No. 59 cornerback in the 2027 class. That ranking might not jump off the page. But pulling a defensive back out of Georgia — especially one Georgia wanted — is the kind of win that matters in recruiting. The Bulldogs typically lock down their home state talent, so this is Alabama getting its foot in the door with a player who has the frame to grow into something more than his current rating.
The Crimson Tide are coming off a 2025 season that looked like a roller coaster drawn by someone who hates straight lines. They opened with a disaster against Florida State, rounded into legitimate championship contention and then faded down the stretch. A blowout loss to eventual national champion Indiana in the Rose Bowl ended their year. So rebuilding depth in the secondary is a priority, and White fits the mold of those long, athletic defensive backs Alabama has churned out for years.
Of course, in the current college football environment, a commitment from a sophomore in high school is more of a handshake than a contract. NIL offers, transfer portal temptations and assistant coach changes can flip a pledge overnight. But for now, DeBoer and his staff can point to this as a sign they still have pull with elite defensive talent.
White’s decision also carries a little extra weight because it shows Alabama can still win battles in Georgia’s backyard. That matters when you’re trying to build a roster that can hang with — and beat — the teams at the top of the SEC.
The Crimson Tide will kick off the 2026 season in September, and they’ll do it with a cornerback on board who believes he can be part of something big. Whether he stays that way for the next two years is another story. But for one Sunday in the offseason, Alabama got good news.
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