Last week, the first of two NCAA transfer portal windows closed to new entries,
although the glut of football players who entered the portal remain free to choose a destination on their own timeline.
Destination, Alabama? Don't count on it.
Not based on what Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban has said about what he wants to achieve in recruiting the portal.
And not with the paucity of top transfers who haven't already committed to a new school.
That doesn't mean we won't see Alabama pick up a player or two in the coming weeks, but the likelihood of a big-splash addition has all but passed.
First consider Saban's modus operandi when it comes to the portal, which is to be selective.
It's an exercise in cherry-picking, from Jameson Williams to Henry To'o To'o, from Jahmyr Gibbs to Tyler Steen
. He's open to add difference makers that fit a specific need,
but he's clearly not compelled to use the portal to backfill his roster with replacements for all the transfers he loses.
That's plain enough from the numbers: two additions and 15 subtractions so far this year.
Alabama's transfer numbers were similarly lopsided last year, and the year before,
when the NCAA began granting immediate eligibility to transfers.