Alabama's top prospect names Florida among final three schools

Alabama’s top-ranked recruit, four-star linebacker Nehemiah McCary, is ranked No. 24 nationally in the updated 247Sports rankings released this week. This makes the blue-chip defender the nation’s top prospect at his position.

The 6-foot-3-inch, 240-pound linebacker is beginning his junior season with high expectations for himself and his team.

“We want to get back to the state championship this year,” McCary said. “We’re looking good, but gotta work on a few things, we lost some key players.”

McCary has put the pressure on his team to defend their 1A state championship. For Maplesville, he has been a two-way player, rushing for more than 1,000 yards in his first three seasons, and has the ability to be a leader on this team.

The Cotton State product is also being heavily recruited by his state SEC schools, Alabama and Auburn, along with Florida, as the three programs that stand out the most.

McCary has been to Gainesville this summer for camp and praised the coaching staff for the insight they gave him and what he took from that visit.

“Coaches. They’re all good coaches. They brought me in (for camp) and taught me some tricks to get better.”

McCary is currently ranked No. 32 overall and No. 1 at his position nationally in the 2028 cycle according to the 247Sports composite, while the Rivals industry ranking has him at Nos. 34 and 2, respectively. According to On3’s recruiting prediction machine, Auburn is in the lead for the prospect’s commitment with a 57.2% chance of signing him, followed by Alabama (21.2%) and Florida (9.9%), plus Ohio State and Georgia (1.4%).

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This article originally appeared on Gators Wire: Alabama’s top prospect names Florida among final three schools