Alabama Summer Enrollee Spotlight: Miles Kitselman

In the 12th and final entry in the series, BamaCentral takes a look at the JUCO transfer tight end.

After welcoming in a dozen early enrollees in January, the rest of Alabama’s 2022 class arrived on campus over the weekend. The Crimson Tide is joined by 11 freshmen summer arrivals as well as junior college transfer Miles Kitselman, who committed to Alabama in early May.

BamaCentral has broken down each of the arrivals one by one. Next, we take a look at the 12th and final entry in this series, tight end Miles Kitselman.

The player

At 6-foot-6 and 250 pounds, Kitselman adds even more depth to the tight end position. His signing last month marked the fourth tight end of Alabama's 2022 class, joining Elijah Brown, Amari Niblack and Danny Lewis.

As a freshman in 2021, Kitselman played for Hutchinson Community College in Kansas. According to the NJCAA's website, he played in just three games and recorded two receptions for 16 yards and a touchdown.

According to Kitselman himself, he was discovered by Alabama when members of the Crimson Tide staff were on Hutchinson's campus to evaluate JUCO All-American wide receiver Malik Benson, a 2023 prospect who currently has Alabama in his top five teams. The Crimson Tide liked what they saw in Kitselman, who was practicing with the team's wide receivers. It didn't take long for him to receive an offer.

In high school, Kitselman played left tackle and defensive end at Lyndon High School, also in Kansas. There, he totaled 99 tackles with 10 for loss as a senior. When he graduated, he had a partial scholarship to play Division II football at Emporia State, but opted to play at Hutchinson in order to shift to tight end and develop his offensive game.

How he fits into Alabama

Following Jahleel Billingsley's transfer to Texas in January, Alabama returns just two scholarship tight ends in Cameron Latu and Robbie Ouzts as well as offensive lineman Kendall Randolph, who served as a blocking tight end at times. As spring practice was winding down, Nick Saban revealed that the team hadn't practiced Randolph at the position all spring, noting that he is confident in the players that he now has at the position.

As stated earlier, Kitselman joins Brown, Niblack and Lewis as an incoming tight end. While Brown enrolled with the Crimson Tide in early January, the remaining trio all joined the team in late May at the start of the summer semester.

The most important factor that Kitselman brings with him to Alabama is the added depth at tight end. Latu will be the likely starter for the Crimson Tide this year, but the four late additions will no doubt go a long way in adding flexibility to the position as a whole.

What to expect next year

On Signing Day, Saban stated that tight end was a clear position of need for the team, and Alabama proceeded to add tight ends in droves. With just three scholarship tight ends heading into the spring, the Crimson Tide has now doubled that number.

Latu has essentially locked down the starting job at this point, with Ouzts serving as a H-back despite being listed as a tight end. That brings a plethora of opportunities for Kitselman and the other trio of new players.

Kitselman has the ability to become an instant contributor, but will likely not see much action with Latu and the highly-touted Niblack ahead of him on the roster. He has potential to be a great asset over time, but it could be a while before fans regularly see him on the gridiron.

Key quote

"Luckily Alabama needed a tight end," Kitselman told the Tuscaloosa News. "A lot of the situations, it doesn't even matter how good you are. If a team is set on tight ends they're not even going to look at you. Lord willing, Alabama needed a tight end, I was available and they chose me, so I just committed on the spot."

Gallery: JUCO Tight End Miles Kitselman