Published Jul 15, 2022
Rivals250 OL Olaus Alinen sets decision date
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Adam Friedman  •  Rivals.com
Rankings Director and National Transfer Portal Analyst
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Rivals250 offensive lineman Olaus Alinen now knows when his recruitment will come to an end. The Windsor (Conn.) Loomis Chaffee School star will decide between Alabama, Miami, Oregon, Ohio State, and Georgia on July 22nd. Rivals.com caught up with Alinen at Future 50 check in and broke down each of his finalists.

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IN HIS OWN WORDS...

Alabama- "Coach Wolford and I have been building a relationship since he got there and it's been really good," Alinen said. "I feel pretty comfortable with him and I know he's going to work hard everyday for me. It's a pretty nice town. I've lived in big cities like Atlanta and I used to live in a small city in Finland so I'm kind of used to both type of cities. It's a really pro-style program. They do everything in a very similar way that a NFL team would operate."

Miami- "It's been awesome with them," he said. "Coach Cristobal and coach Mirabal were the second coaching staff to offer me a scholarship when they were back at Oregon and I was still living in Europe. My relationship is really strong with them. I think it's really an awesome thing that you'd get two really skilled offensive line coaches there and just more eyes on the offensive line. When a head coach is a former offensive lineman you know it's going to be a priority for the team."

Oregon- "Coach Klemm is probably the coolest coach I've talked to," said Alinen. "He's a baller. He won three Super Bowls with the Patriots playing offensive line and he's a little different than some of the other guys."

Ohio State- "We have a good relationship with their coaching staff," he said. "Coach Frye and the whole coaching staff have been recruiting me for a long time and I think it's a really good program."

Georgia- "We used to live in Atlanta and they're pretty close by there," Alinen said. "The program just won a championship. They really get after it with how they put in work on the field and off the field. That really resonated with me when I was there during the spring and summer."

On how he'll come to a final decision- "It's fairly close right now," he said. "I think I'm kind of getting a sense of which program it will be in the end. It's going to be about the relationships, development, comfortability with the place and coaches, and the overall experience of going to school there as a student. For me, location is not that big of a factor since I'm already so far from home. I just need to find what type of place fits me."

RIVALS' REACTION...

Alinen's recruitment is coming down to Alabama and Miami. The Crimson Tide have made him a priority and that isn't lost on Alinen and his family but his visit to Miami last month has really stuck with him. This won't be an easy decision for Alinen but it feels like Miami has a little bit of an edge so that's the team that is getting my FutureCast prediction.