Just In: Alabama Football Has Lost a Former Five-Star Recruit Due to the Transfer Portal

admin | December 8, 2023 | Other Clubs | No Comments

Last Sunday, the Alabama football team may have snuck into the College Football Playoff.

Nonetheless, some Crimson Tide players are ready to abandon ship ahead of their semifinal game against the Michigan Wolverines. Alabama football wide receiver Ja’Corey Brooks has entered the transfer portal, according to Matt Zenitz of 247 Sports.

Brooks joins Thaiu Jones-Bell and Tyler Buchner in the transfer portal. In three seasons with the Crimson Tide, Jones-Bell had four catches. Meanwhile, Buchner saw limited action in 2023, serving as a backup to starting quarterback Jalen Milroe. The former Notre Dame Fighting Irish quarterback will play lacrosse in South Bend.

Ja’Corey Brooks: Career with Alabama Football

As a freshman, Brooks, a consensus five-star prospect and one of the top receivers in the class of 2021, caught 15 passes for 192 yards and two touchdowns. In his team’s loss to the Georgia Bulldogs in the College Football Playoff National Championship, he had six receptions for 47 yards. Brooks had a career year in 2022 with quarterback Bryce Young, catching 39 passes for 674 yards and eight touchdowns. He had two receptions for 51 yards and a touchdown in the Crimson Tide’s Sugar Bowl victory over the Kansas State Wildcats.

Brooks, on the other hand, took a back seat in 2023, catching just three passes for 30 yards in nine games. Instead, sophomore Isaiah Bond stepped up big time, leading the team in receptions. Meanwhile, sophomores Kobe Prentice, Kendrick Law, and Malik Benson outperformed Brooks in receptions.

Brooks Joins Talent Wide Receiver Group in Transfer Portal

Ja’Corey Brooks will join an elite group of wide receivers who have used the transfer portal.The star-studded talent looking for new teams includes Juice Wells, Caullin Lacy, and Will Sheppard. Wells dominated for the South Carolina Gamecocks in 2022, hauling in 68 passes for 928 yards and six touchdowns. Injuries, however, derailed his 2023 campaign. Lacy and Sheppard, on the other hand, had a monster year. Lacy had 91 receptions for 1,316 yards and seven touchdowns with the Jaguars of South Alabama, while Sheppard had 47 receptions for 684 yards and eight touchdowns with Vandy.