Top running back recruit in Alabama may flip his commitment amid visits to premier college football programs

The battle for the top running back recruit in Alabama has been extremely hard fought this spring. Alvin Henderson from Elba, AL has nearly 50 FBS scholarship offers and more than 7000 rushing yards to his name at this point and his hype is still building. He has been one of the most highly coveted running backs in the nation for some time, and for good reason. But trying to figure out where he's actually going to land has been quite the enigma.

Just this spring he told recruiting analysts that Florida State was leading the way. Then he promptly visited Miami, Auburn twice, ultimately committed to Penn State after he concluded his spring tour. Now his recruitment is apparently far from over as he's begun his first round of summer visits. So where will he most likely land, and why is everyone so interested?

Legend of running back Alvin Henderson

You [the reader] may have simply glossed over the whole "7000 rushing yards" note, but that isn't an exaggeration. Alvin Henderson has seriously somehow racked up over 7200 rushing yards in just three high school football seasons. In fact, he tallied more than 3500 yards on the ground just last year, averaging over 15 yards per carry and 250+ yards per game.

While it's true Henderson plays against lower level competition, his dominance has been truly legendary, winning Alabama High School Football Player of the Year twice now. Wherever he goes expectations will be through the roof for this consensus top tier four star talent.

Where will Alvin Henderson end up signing?

Alvin Henderson is still technically committed to Penn State right now and has good relationships with key Nittany Lions staff members, but there's already real buzz he might flip here soon. Steve Wiltfong just outlined this likely possibility on his On3 Sports show Tuesday as you can see in the post below.

"There's a lot of confidence around the Plains that ultimately Alvin Henderson will be a Tiger...his questions with Auburn have been, 'How does a running back of his skill set fit in Hugh Freeze's offense?'"

Steve Wiltfong believes that Hugh Freeze and Auburn are still right there in the mix to flip Henderson their way. And it's true, Henderson did just take an unofficial visit with the Tigers this past week. There's clearly still significant interest coming off his tenth visit with Auburn throughout his recruiting journey (according to On3).

And this battle is not just down to Auburn and Penn State alone. Henderson still has an official visit with Miami coming up in June. The Hurricanes and coach Mario Cristobol have made it clear they are not afraid to fork out the cash for the right running back fit, and continue to bring in top talents at the position.

Henderson officially announced his "top five" as Auburn, Florida State, Miami, Oregon and Penn State just weeks before committing this spring, but then still visited the Florida Gators right after that. All six of those schools likely should still be in the mix, but given how all over the place he's been with his recruitment there's likely even more. Alabama might be one to watch as more teams aim to get him on campus this summer.

Henderson had visited with Alabama nearly double-digit times prior to Nick Saban's retirement, but Kalen DeBoer hasn't secured anything official with him to date. While Alabama does have one running back committed for 2025 already, they could certainly use another high pedigree in-state talent like Henderson. Look for them to reinsert themselves into the mix as more buzz surfaces in the coming weeks about a potential flip.

It's going to be hard for Penn State to hang on to him even though coach [Ja'Juan] Seider is one of the best running back coaches in the country and one of the best recruiters...it's still going to be a tall task to hang on to him.

This quote from Wiltfong really says all you need to know. A flip seems to already be in motion. It's only a matter of time before even more schools put their names back in the hat for Henderson's services.

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And if you want to watch some Alvin Henderson highlights to see how he might fit with your favorite college football program you can check out the video below!