Georgia OL Commit Not Ruling Out Alabama After Recent Visit
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Alabama was late to the party when it came to recruiting RyQueze McElderry last year. The Crimson Tide offered the class of 2023 offensive lineman on Nov. 19, but by that time he was already leaning toward Georgia. By the end of the month, the Anniston, Alabama, native was a Bulldog commit.
Still, the in-state offer didn’t go unnoticed by McElderry, who grew up pulling for the Crimson Tide. Roughly two months later, the Georgia commit hasn’t quite ruled out Alabama just yet.
McElderry was in Tuscaloosa on Saturday as he took in Alabama’s campus for "Built By Bama Day." It’s safe to say the visit didn’t hurt the Crimson Tide’s chances of swaying the in-state talent.
“Like it? I loved it,” McElderry said of the visit. “The feel of being down there in Tuscaloosa was a little bit different this time. I got to get a little bit more in touch with the coaches down there.”
During his time on campus, McElderry spoke with Nick Saban as well as offensive line coach Doug Marrone and defensive line coach Freddie Roach, his primary recruiter. All three coaches praised the 6-foot-3, 340-pound lineman for his strength while stating they see him as an ideal fit for the interior of their future offensive front.
“I’ve got a good relationship with Coach Saban,” McElderry said. “Every time I see him, he greets me and my family really nice. We always have a good relationship every time we talk. When we talk, he’s just straight to the point.
“He was just telling me how good of a player I am. He said I’ve got great power, real quick feet, really good hands and stuff like that. We also talked about the academic side at the University of Alabama."
While McElderry enjoyed building his relationships with Alabama coaches, the highlight of his trip centered around discussions with a much different crowd.
“We had a meeting with some of Alabama’s professors, and I was able to talk with them about engineering because that’s what I’m going to major in,” McElderry said. “I’ll be taking college courses in early December, so talking about that with them was really big. I really enjoyed that meeting.”
McElderry also spent a good amount of time with incoming Alabama freshmen, including his good friend Khurtiss Perry and cousin Tre’Quon Fegans. The two were able to provide some insight into their early college life while also slipping in a few recruiting pitches for the Crimson Tide.
"As soon as I walked into the recruiting room, the first person I saw was Khurtiss,” McElderry said with a laugh. “He came over to talk to me, and as we were talking he was like, ‘What you doing man? You going to come down here with it?’ I was like, ‘I don’t know, we’ll see.’”
Despite going ahead with his commitment to Georgia last November, McElderry said it was still special picking up an offer from Alabama. The longtime Crimson Tide fan even admitted it caused him to pause a bit before pulling the trigger on his commitment.
“It meant a lot to me because growing up I was an Alabama fan,” McElderry said. “I didn’t really see myself growing as big as I am now with football. I was just playing just to play because I was put into football by my momma. Playing from a little boy up to now in high school and getting a big scholarship offer from big schools like Alabama and Georgia it was kind of shocking at first because everybody doesn’t get that opportunity. When I got the offer from Alabama, which is my dream school, it kind of blew me away."
So where do things stand now?
“I’m still committed to Georgia, and I’m still rolling with the dogs,” McElderry said. “But I’ve still got time, so anything can happen from now until December 15th when I sign early.”
McElderry currently plans on taking official visits to Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky Tennessee and either South Carolina or Ole Miss.
