Four-Star Jarez Parks In Tears After Alabama Doesn't Have Room For Him

Jarez Parks was planning to have the biggest day of his young life on Wednesday. Those designs were blown up when the four-star defensive end found out Alabama hadn’t left room for him in its recruiting class.

During a signing day ceremony at Sebastian River High School in Florida, Parks announced, through tears, that he hadn’t decided who to sign with. A top-100 recruit, Parks was planning to head to Tuscaloosa, but apparently learned the Crimson Tide didn’t have room to take him.

A bit later it was announced that Parks had committed to Alabama, but will be attending as a “greyshirt,” meaning he won’t be able to enroll until January. Typically, greyshirting players pay their own way at a junior college for a semester before attending their chosen college.

While it appears Parks will wind up where he wanted to go, how awful for this kid to have a huge ceremony planned and have it end in tears.

To be clear, colleges are constantly in contact with these kids. There is zero chance Parks knew there was a possibility that he didn’t have a spot with Alabama. He almost certainly had the rug pulled out from under him by Nick Saban and company. That happens from time to time but the fact that he was clearly unaware of the possibility is disturbing to say the least.