One of the biggest movers in the 2025 recruiting class was five-star quarterback Keelon Russell, who signed with the Alabama Crimson Tide during the early signing period in December.

Russell, a 6-foot-1, 185-pound quarterback, was considered the second-best recruit in the 2025 class according to 247Sports and was originally an SMU commit before transferring and remaining committed to Alabama.

But even though he was committed to the Crimson Tide, there were still a number of suitors chasing the five-star quarterback, and some had some deep pockets.

“As you all know, a lot of schools have thrown money at me,” Russell said Sunday. “For me it was never really about the money person. I felt like this was more of a short-term value than a long-term one. If you do good things, like get paid a million dollars and sink into college, no booster is going to want to pay that to see you play. Shoot, you could be benched and your career is over. So, you gotta think about it, you know what I’m saying?”

“If a school offered me 250,000 to play for them right now, and the next three years I dominate, get Heisman stuff, and now you’re worth 5 million, you know what I’m saying? You then get to the pros worth 5 million, so in the long term it’s all about the zero stuff. I’m not really worried about it at the moment. I know if I do my thing, it will still come.”

When it came to deciding between Alabama and SMU, Russell had something to do with football, but the move didn’t stop the Mustangs from making a last-minute push.

“With SMU going to Alabama, the NIL, I mean, it’s still the same,” Russell said. “SMU had some concerns, so they tried to improve it, but I told them, ‘Hey man, this is a whole family thing.’ I want you to feel like I’m doing this for us.’ So I mean, honestly, yeah, like I said, it’s a long-term thing for me.”

However, aside from SMU and Alabama, Russell revealed that there were three teams that made a late push for his services that came with some significant zero numbers: Texas, Colorado and LSU.

“They wanted me to, you know what I mean, keep going up there,” Russell said of the three schools. “My name started jumping around on many platforms. So a lot of coaches opened their eyes and Alabama was there before everything happened. So I respected her for that. And Shoot, Alabama came to my practice seemed like probably one of the worst practices as a quarterback. Honestly, I had the day off and when they even gave me a chance to be their quarterback, I saw something inside myself.”

Nevertheless, there were discussions about the possibility of attending these schools as the numbers were circulating.

“It was, it was (a real thought),” Russell admitted. “Honestly, who wouldn’t really want to go to Colorado? I mean, it was something I was thinking about and then the words got around, wrong stuff. So I turned it off and said, “No, I can’t do that.”

“So LSU, I kind of thought about it too. Colorado, I’ve been thinking about it. Texas, I’ve been thinking about going there. I was actually there and before I chose Alabama, so I thought about a lot of things a little bit, but I had to stay home and stay honest with the world, my fans and my people. (The three schools) threw out some numbers. I mean, I can’t really talk about that. I know it’s big. Just know that it’s big.”

Ultimately, while the money was legitimate for Russell, his main focus was football, which led him to the Crimson Tide.

“But like I said, I’m not really worried about the money, man. I’m here to play ball. I’m here to play ball. Back then they did it for free. I’m doing it for (myself) in my heart right now, but I just get the money at the end, you know what I mean? So, yeah, but there were a few offers that were made to me. Since I’m one of the top-ranked quarterbacks, obviously that’s going to give you some money.”

Russell, now with Alabama, is looking forward to potentially becoming the team’s next quarterback should Jalen Milroe enter the NFL Draft, but knows it will be a tough road and that he will have to compete to earn his spot to secure the next level.

But even though he had been committed to the Crimson Tide for some time, it was still a difficult process for the five-star quarterback as schools relentlessly pursued him until the end.