HS coach: Academic issue hasn’t changed Flowers’ like for Tide
DeSherrius Flowers’ Alabama career may be simply delayed.
According to his high school coach, Flowers still has a good relationship with the school after he was forced to go to a junior college for the 2015 season. The Tide announced in June that Flowers wouldn’t be able to enroll at the school becuase of “a recently discovered initial eligibility issue.” But it seems that if Alabama wants him back, Flowers could return after a year or two at Jones Junior College.
“I don’t think this has changed his relationship with Alabama as far as I know,” Ashley Johnson told Al.com. “He loves Alabama. That’s where he wanted to be. And as far as they were concerned, he was good to go obviously or they wouldn’t have brought him on board in January and got him in school. As far as they were concerned, his eligibility looked great — from the coaching staff and the college itself.”
We also have a possible reason for the issue. According to Johnson, Flowers’ last ACT score was a 19 (out of a possible 36). It was a big jump from his previous score. Big jumps from test to test can be flagged by the NCAA, though Johnson said there is no evidence of any issues any improprieties in the score.
He was a four-star recruit in the class of 2015 and the No. 21 running back in the country.
Flowers came to Alabama in January and had been participating in spring practice with the team. He was counted on to be a key piece of Alabama’s depth at running back. The team lost T.J. Yeldon to the NFL draft and Bo Scarbrough to a knee injury. Altee Tenpenny transferred to UNLV and Tyren Jones was dismissed, leaving Derrick Henry and Kenyan Drake as Alabama’s two most experience returning running backs.
For more Alabama news, visit TideSports.com.
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Nick Bromberg is the assistant editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
