Alabama’s push for 5-star receiver Monshun Sales is starting to look a lot like the kind of recruiting fight the Crimson Tide have already lost to Texas more than once.
Sales has been Alabama’s top 2027 target for the entire cycle, but the momentum around his recruitment has shifted enough to raise real concern in Tuscaloosa. Indiana has long been viewed as the main competition for the Alabama native, who moved to Indianapolis as a kid. Now, Texas has entered the picture with force, and recent social media activity has added to the sense that the Longhorns are very much alive.
That would fit the pattern Alabama has seen over the last six months. Texas has already beaten the Tide for Auburn transfer WR Cam Coleman, a player Alabama wanted but never seemed to have a firm grip on. The more painful miss came with NC State transfer RB Hollywood Smoothers, who was committed to Alabama before flipping to Texas after a visit to Austin.
Sales would be a different kind of loss, but not a surprising one. Alabama has spent the cycle trying to land the lifelong Crimson Tide fan, and Kalen DeBoer’s staff has done what it can to keep him pointed toward Tuscaloosa. Still, the reality of modern recruiting keeps getting louder: loyalty matters, but money matters more.
If Sales ends up choosing Texas, it would be hard to separate the decision from that reality.
There are reasons Alabama could stomach losing him to Indiana. The Hoosiers are the home-state school for Sales, and they’re coming off a national championship while showing no signs of slowing down.
Texas, though, brings a different kind of threat. Steve Sarkisian has consistently landed elite talent in Austin, even if the program has not fully lived up to that talent yet.
The Longhorns’ 9-3 finish last season has only increased the pressure on Sarkisian to get Texas back into the College Football Playoff and eventually deliver the program’s first national title since 2005. The boosters are clearly invested in making that happen.
That financial firepower has already shown up in Alabama’s recruiting battles. Texas holds commitments in its 2027 class from several Tide targets, including 5-star CB John Meredith III and 5-star OL Ismael Camara, along with in-state prospects like EDGE Jabarrius Garror and S Junior Tu'upo.
For Alabama, the issue is not whether the program can compete financially. It can. The problem is that in these head-to-head battles, Texas can still go one step further and add another zero if it needs to.
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