When Derek Meadows He committed to LSU in July, five-star quarterback Bryce Underwood was on board, and it looked like two things were coming together at once: Meadows was playing in the SEC and with an elite quarterback.

Recently, Underwood decommitted to Michigan, which then posed a problem for four-star receiver Bishop Gorman from Las Vegas.

The Wolverines made a tough run at Meadows, but he decided to decommit to Alabama, which continues to fulfill two of his greatest desires: playing in the SEC and now working with five-star quarterback Keelon Russell.

Alabama always played an important role in recruiting Meadows.

LSU, Alabama, Notre Dame and Michigan were the four programs that stood out early on for Meadows, who had 24 catches for 598 yards and seven touchdowns in his senior season.

The Tigers won somewhat surprisingly over the summer since Meadows had been committed to Notre Dame for so long.

And it looked like LSU might be able to keep Meadows in the class, especially if the Tigers could have locked up Underwood, but that wasn’t the case as Michigan had turned him over in recent weeks.

Alabama and Michigan in particular have worked with Meadows again after the Underwood news, but in Tuscaloosa he gets to play in the SEC and still with an elite quarterback.

RIVAL REACTION

Meadows has all the physical skills to be special, but the crux of his high school career is whether he dominated enough for someone ranked so high.

His stats in his senior season were good but not spectacular, and now he’s headed to the most competitive conference in college football.

Meadows has shown flashes of elite ability, but he will need to perform better at Alabama to truly reach his potential. He has all the physical skills to become one of the best receivers in college football if he puts it all together.