Alabama visit wows 3-star ATH Slade Bolden, who hopes to decide soon
The Latest: Versatile three-star Louisiana athlete Slade Bolden went into his Alabama visit not knowing what to expect but he left Tuscaloosa very impressed with both the campus and the program's coaches. After staying the night Saturday and camping on Sunday Bolden did enough to prove to the Alabama coaches that he's worthy of the offer they handed out earlier this year. The question is, did Alabama do enough to pass LSU and perceived leader TCU? Rivals.com caught up with Bolden to talk about all three options as well as his hopes to announce a decision soon.
In His Words: "It was great. I knew Alabama was going to be special I just didn’t know how special. They treated me very well and I had a wonderful time and it didn’t disappoint."
On how Alabama sees him fitting: "They want me at slot, Coach Daboll worked with a bunch of guys with my kind of stature when he was in the NFL and that’s what he’s going to use me as and that’s what he was telling me. Basically what they say is they’re trying to get three good receivers out of this class and they seem to really want me and they show a lot of love towards me."
On the camp experience: "We went through testing and routes on air and stuff like that and then just a few us went over and ran through a bunch of stuff. I got to run some routes with Calvin Ridley and Jalen Hurts was there working with us, too. I liked the way Coach Locksley and Coach Daboll worked their receivers. They push them hard."
On Alabama's facilities: "They definitely beat everybody. It was unbelievable facility but that wasn’t even the best part about it. They were great coaches, great people."
On TCU: "I plan to attend TCU on Friday for a visit and that will be my last one before I get back to work with my team. They seem to have a really good family based staff. They all seem like good people and the facilities are nice of course and they always treat West Monroe people well from what I know. A bunch of my friends are there too but it’s just another school for now even though I like them a lot. [Rivals100 TCU quarterback commit] Justin Rogers has been recruiting me hard, he's a great guy."
On LSU: "Coach O really brought me in and treated me like his own son, like family and I got a lot of love from there when I visited last month. I just don’t know for sure yet. I’m still trying to make my mind up. I don’t really know how their offense is going to look. I went to their spring game and I saw a little bit but they didn’t really show everything. But it’s a lot better for someone like me than what they used to run."
On a decision timeline: "My goal is to decide by the end of the month but I don’t know if that’s the plan. If I don’t’ know by then then I guess I’m going to have to continue to think about it."
Rivals Reaction: There were rumors that Bolden nearly committed when he was on campus at LSU last month but obviously he's still on the open market and Alabama made quite an impression during his time in Tuscaloosa. TCU has also been perceived as Bolden's leader at times as well, but he seems conflicted heading into this weekend's visit. Depending on how things go in Fort Worth, it could go a long way toward helping Bolden make up his mind.