Alabama Crimson Tide Loses Out on the Monshun Sales Sweepstakes

NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos...

The wait is over on the Monshun Sales recruiting decision.

The five-star wide receiver trimmed down his decision to five teams with the University of Alabama being at the forefront.

Ultimately, Sales, who grew up donning the nickname “Bama,” chose to commit to the defending National Champion Indiana Hoosiers, he announced today on the Pat McAfee Show.

A Birmingham native who eventually moved to Indianapolis, Sales admitted that his top-two choices were between Alabama and Indiana after a visit to the Tuscaloosa campus.

“It really felt unreal,” Sales told 247Sports. “I grew up in Alabama. I grew up thinking about that all the time and it was finally there. It was a ‘I am here’ moment. I feel like Bama and Indiana are my top two schools right now.”

Up until May, Rivals’ VP of National Recruiting Steve Wiltfong had a prediction that Sales would ultimately end up with the Crimson Tide.

However, as the official visits transpired, Wiltfong changed his prediction, and believed that he would end up choosing Indiana.

Just yesterday, Rivals’ recruiting analyst Sam Spiegelman followed that sentiment, further confirming Wiltfong’s insight.

Recruits Bama (@RecruitsBama) on X😕

It was clear that the visit to Alabama meant a lot to Sales, but as we have seen with many recruits in the 2027 class, Alabama has fallen short.

Alabama's commits and quarterback pledges publicly recruited Sales on social media in the days before his decision.

There’s no doubt that head coach Kalen DeBoer and General Manager Courtney Morgan pushed hard for Sales. Up until his commitment, the program had kept in close contact with him. 

However, given how openly disciplined the program is on exceeding the budget, the Tide may have been no match for the Hoosiers.

BamaOnLine’s Tim Watts told Rivals that if this ended up being an NIL battle, that his decision likely would not wind up being Alabama.

So in an effort to pivot on Wednesday, the Tide flipped Auburn wide receiver commit Cedrick Simmons, a Selma native, and an Alabama fan growing up.

This will likely be the first time Alabama has a recruiting class that’s not in the top 10 since Nick Saban arrived in 2007.

Bama Roundtable also offers a fan community and message board. We’d love to have you join us to talk all things Alabama Crimson Tide. Click the “Join” button at the top of the page to join our community for free.

More at NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos