Advertisement
football Edit

Rivals250 prospect Jarez Parks announces for Alabama but will grayshirt

RELATED: National Signing Day Blog

Jarez Parks is one of the nation's top defensive ends, but he will not be enrolling in the fall.

Parks is grayshirting, meaning he will enroll in January, after Alabama ran out of scholarships for the 2017 class.

According to TideSports.com recruiting analyst Andrew Bone, Parks was initially told he didn't have a spot in Alabama's 2017, but instead he would have grayshirt and delay his enrollment until January.

"There was a numbers crunch and there just wasn't a spot for him to sign," Bone said. "He will now wait and enroll next January."

Parks planned on revealing his college decision known in a ceremony at his high school Wednesday morning. But when he came out at the Sebastian River Auditorium this morning, it was to announce that he wouldn't be announcing at all -- at least until later in the day.

According to reporters at the school, it was an emotional scene that included Parks fighting through tears.

Advertisement

Parks had intended on committing to Alabama, according to Bone. However, the staff asked him to wait, apparently because they were waiting on Rivals100 defensive end Labryan Ray's decision.

At 12:30 ET, Parks publicly committed to Alabama in a BleacherReport.com video and in Facebook live video. The Bleacher Report video was purportedly filmed in Paris. The video even featured the Eiffel Tower as part of the reveal.

Rivals.com National Recruiting Director Mike Farrell said it shows how valuable a spot at Alabama truly can be.

"Only Alabama can get a Rivals250 player to grayshirt," Farrell said. "I can't think of another program that can pull that off."

Advertisement