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Football Recruiting Father of top RB prospect talks interest in the Tide, previews weekend OV

Jack Knowlton

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Oct 10, 2023
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Alabama already has one running back commitment in the Class of 2025. The Crimson Tide’s first 2025 addition was four-star Anthony Rogers, who gave a verbal pledge to Alabama back in June 2023.

While Rogers remains committed to the new coaching staff nearly a year later, the Tide is still exploring options at the running back position. It will welcome a few RB visitors in June for official visits, including four-star prospect Jamarion Morrow.

Morrow is currently ranked as the No. 4 all-purpose running back in the class. He previously played for Germantown High School in Tennessee but is transferring in-state to Melrose High School in Memphis, where he will be coached by his father Jarrett Morrow and his uncle Gerald Morrow. Both men played wide receiver at Tennessee State in the mid-2000s and have since become key influences in Jamarion’s football development.

“It's like having two dads,” Jarrett said. “And we're hard coaches, and we were smaller in size so he's adapted that hard-working [mentality] because we had to outwork the bigger players all of our lives. So you’re getting somebody that’s straight football. [Jamarion’s] mentality is “kill.” The instincts are just different.”

Ahead of his senior season at Melrose, Jamarion has already earned nearly 40 Division I offers with Alabama emerging as one of the standouts. He cheered for the Crimson Tide growing up and will now take an official visit to Tuscaloosa on May 31. During his visit, Jamarion is looking to continue building off of a strong unofficial visit back in March.

“He built a great relationship with [running backs coach [Robert] Gillespie,” Jarrett said. “The last time we came down on an unofficial we spent a lot of time with Coach Gillespie. So [Jamarion is] just looking forward to meeting those guys again and just being around them, and being around Coach [Kalen] DeBoer. We had long meeting with him as well so the unofficial visit went very well. He just [wants to pick] the coaches’ brains and just see how they run things on a daily basis at Alabama.”

Jarrett said the Alabama staff is in contact with Jamarion at least every other day. Both father and son have formed a strong connection with Gillespie and Jarrett is confident that the Alabama running backs coach will be a great leader for his son both on and off the field.

“He just seems like a manly man, just a stand-up guy,” Jarrett said. “That's what I enjoy. It didn't feel phony. It felt genuine when I walked away, and that was my first time really interacting with him in person… and he knows ball. He knows football. He knows how to coach the running back position.”

When taking visits, Jarrett encourages his son to ask all the questions he can, which helped Jamarion get a good feel for DeBoer when they met in the spring. The two got along well, talking for nearly 40 minutes. The meeting also left Jarrett with a clear indication that his son would be in good hands if he chose Alabama.

“We actually got on a subject, and I guess it was something close to his heart, with the quarterback [Micheal] Penix,” Jarrett said. “We asked a question about that and he teared up almost, and that let me know that he really cares about his players, and it was just a warm conversation. It was going back and forth like we've known each other. So it was it was a great conversation.”

Jarrett said Jamrion’s recruitment to Alabama increased with the new coaching that puts a stronger emphasis on securing commitments earlier in the recruiting cycle. Jamarion’s subsequent interest in the Crimson Tide only grew after he saw the team practice this spring.

“When we came down, they were hitting and running around and making noise,” Jarrett said. “Jamrion loves tough practices. He doesn't like soft practices. He doesn't like getting catered to or things like that. He likes a tough practice and that’s one thing that stood out when we left Alabama was the way they practice was really tough.”

Alabama is in a five-team SEC race for Jamarion’s services. After his trip to Tuscaloosa, he’ll visit Texas A&M (June 7), Georgia (June 14), Ole Miss — the visit will be during the week after his trip to Athens, Georgia — and Missouri (June 21). The four other SEC schools and Alabama are the only players remaining in his recruitment. He plans to announce his commitment before his birthday (June 27).

“He wants to know that you want him,” Jerrett said. “He doesn't want fake love. He doesn’t want catering to. He wants to know how you're gonna use him… He loves [a] hard, structured, family-oriented, coaching staff. He likes a staff that's together. He likes a staff that coaches hard. He likes a staff that’s gonna get on him and just things like that. But [Alabama] did a great job on the unofficial so I can't see [the official visit] going any other way.”
 
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