Jumbo Package: Gump Day!

News is scarce out there right now, but we will persist for you, lovely readers.

Alabama basketball forward Keon Ambrose-Hylton has found a new home.

After seven weeks in the NCAA transfer portal, the 6-foot-8, 215-pound forward announced on Tuesday that we would be continuing his college basketball career as an SMU Mustang.

Ambrose-Hylton, a sophomore, played in 11 games this past season and 29 total contests over the last two years. His most extensive playing time came Nov. 28 in the Crimson Tide’s win over Miami, a Sweet 16 team, but he only played in one game after Jan. 8 (South Carolina).

Ambrose-Hylton was unable to find the court in 2021-2022 for the Tide despite a lack of depth at his position the entire season. As such, his entrance to the transfer portal was far from unexpected.

He’s now moving on to SMU. Good luck to the long-armed guy. I hate we never really got to see him.

Alabama’s summer enrollees will arrive on campus later this month, and that includes offensive tackle Elijah Pritchett, a 5-star 2022 recruit out of Columbus, Ga., according to 247Sports.

The highest-rated prep player from the Crimson Tide’s signing class that did not enroll early, Pritchett is set to make his way to Tuscaloosa on Sunday, May 29, after spending the last few months working out to get “mentally and physically prepared” for the collegiate level.

Alabama has to replace both starting offensive tackles from last year’s team, and after 15 spring practices, the battles are still undecided. The 6-foot-6 Pritchett, who said he is up to 325 pounds three weeks before enrolling, is eager to throw his hat in the ring for left tackle job.

“I was talking to Coach (Eric) Wolford, and he was telling me they need a little bit of help at left tackle,” Pritchett told BamaOnLine. “So the sooner I get in, the better. I’ve just been really preparing for that moment when I step foot on campus.”

While it’s unlikely Pritchett wins the job as a summer enrollee true freshman, the tackle spot is one area where Nick Saban has consistently been willing to plug in a freshman. And with both tackle spots vacated from 2021, there’s plenty of opportunity.

Of course, grad transfer Tyler Steen was not brought on as a developmental prospect, and is very likely to lock down one tackle spot. And 2021 five-star J.C. Latham seems to be the heir apparent for the other spot... Though he never made that step last season to take the job when it was open for the taking.

In any case, there’s a lot of work that needs to be done on this group for Coach Wolford if the Tide wants to live up to the betting odds coming in:

On Monday, BetOnline released odds on conference champions. Alabama (1/1) and Georgia (5/4) topped the list in the SEC.

“The SEC is essentially a two-way race with Alabama practically co-favorites to win their conference and also the NCAA Championship,” Adam Burns, BetOnline.ag SportsBook Manager told AL.com on Tuesday.

Yet, action on Jimbo Fisher’s team saw a shift in the odds already.

“In the last day or so we have seen multiple bets on Texas A&M at 11/1, which moved them to 9/1 after those big bets. No other team has really seen any significant money at big odds.”

I wouldn’t be betting a whole lot on Texas A&M if my opinion counts for much. Jimbo Fisher has consistently underachieved, and one win over Alabama last year seems to have bought him an entire new season of hype.

None of the SEC West seems particularly dangerous at this point, to be honest. Things can change... But none of the teams scare me. Auburn’s entire team left, LSU is breaking in a new coach and roster, Ole Miss lost Matt Corral, Miss State is still coached by Mike Leach, Aggie gonna Aggie, and Arkansas.... Exists.

On the other hand, Georgia is in for a potential bloodbath in an East conference that’s been down for years. Kentucky just might be my pick to win the East, Florida actually hired a potentially good coach, and this year is finally Tennessee’s year... For real this time... We promise.

Gardendale’s Kelby Collins, one of Alabama’s top 2023 prospects, has narrowed his college list to five contenders.

The 6-foot-5, 280-pound defensive end listed four SEC schools and Oklahoma as his current contenders.

The SEC schools are Alabama, Georgia, Florida and South Carolina.

Collins, a 4-star prospect, is No. 8 among the state’s senior prospects, according to the 247 composite rankings.

On the recruiting front, Alabama is slowly closing in on Kelby Collins, one of the major recruits in the state this year. Seriously, imagine a 280-lb lineman that made 109 tackles and 16 sacks. Just nutty production.

For Alabama, I view this recruiting class as an extremely critical one. It’s possible the most stacked in-state class since 2008 (there are five 5-star players), especially at defensive back and defensive line.

That kind of local talent haul has the potential to become a cornerstone for creating a dominating defense through the rest of the mid-2020s.

The Crimson Tide men finished tied for 66th in his first NCAA outdoor track championships while the women were 44th.

That was 11 years ago.

Things are different now.

The Alabama men’s program enters this week’s SEC outdoor championship meet No. 2 in the national rankings — the highest in school history. The ranking is based on individual times and rankings within each event. Alabama’s 270.26 points are behind only Texas’ 279.44.

That follows a 2021 NCAA outdoor meet when the women’s No. 4 finish was the program’s best since 1987, the second of consecutive seasons it was national runner up.

The Tide women are ranked in the national top 25 and is No. 8 in the 14-team SEC, according to the USTFCCCA website.

Finally, congrats to the Track and Field programs. The men’s group has made it to their highest ranking in school history, and the women aren’t far behind.

Roll Tide!