Adding insult to today’s College Football Playoff Committe bracket results, Alabama has learned that a a four-star recruit has chosen the Oregon Ducks over Alabama Crimson Tide football overtures. Dillon Mitchell, a two-sport star from Memphis, chose the Oregon Ducks after what he deemed was an impressive recruiting trip last weekend.
Mitchell had been wooed and offered scholarships by several high-profile college football programs. Many of those programs, in fact, find themselves in the middle of the new College Football Playoff Committee bracket results for Week 11. Translation: Mitchell is the real deal.
The 6-foot-1, 180-pound wide receiver chose the Oregon Ducks over the Alabama Crimson Tide, Auburn Tigers, Mississippi State Bulldogs, Ole Miss, The Ohio State Buckeyes, Cincinnati and Tennessee. The Oregonian newspaper reported that the Oregon Ducks hadn’t offered Mitchell a scholarship until this past weekend.
Mitchell is primarily a football recruit, though Mitchell said Tuesday that his basketball future is “still up in the air.” No doubt the Oregon Ducks basketball team could use Mitchell’s help. Considering the football machine that Oregon has become in recent years, though, that’s not a likely outcome.
Mitchell, a four-star recruit, is Oregon’s third commitment from the Class of 2016. The other such recruits are four-star QB Seth Green and four-star recruit Brady Breeze. There’s a lot of time between now and the official 2016 letter of intent signing day, so Mitchell and the others could change their minds. But that didn’t sound likely Tuesday.
During his press conference at White Station high school, Mitchell said he had “no second thoughts.”
“It was good experience for me and my family,” he said of his visit to Oregon. “We had a good time. I didn’t expect to leave here and have a good relationship like I do with the coaches now. I have a good relationship with all of the coaches.”
Mitchell won’t be playing with Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota, shown above, who’s widely expected to skip his senior season and leave the Ducks for the NFL after this year. Mariota is also a Heisman favorite this season.