A Second Tide Player is in the Portal
Make that two Alabama football players, neither of which were in the team's future plans, in the portal.
Crimson Tide senior wide receiver Thaiu Jones-Bell has entered his name in the transfer portal, joining backup quarterback Tyler Buchner, according to Bama OnLine. Jones-Bell medically redshirted in 2023 and did not play for the Crimson Tide.
In fact, Alabama removed Jones-Bell from its online roster back on Aug. 3, and coach Nick Saban said Jones-Bell was dealing with “some medical issues.” Jones-Bell went through spring practice but did not practice in the fall. A native of Hallandale, Fla., Jones-Bell played in 12 games over the last three years, serving as a backup wide receiver and contributor on special teams. He caught four passes for 19 yards with a long of eight yards during in his Tide career.
Jones-Bell was part of Alabama’s 2020 signing class, which ranked No. 2 in the nation that year according to the On3 Industry Rankings. The 6-foot, 190-pounder was a 4-star recruit from Miami, Florida's Carol City High and was considered the 143rd-best overall prospect and No. 24 receiver in the class of 2020. He is the 13th member of that signing class to leave Alabama's program.
{Truthfully, Jones-Bell was no longer part of the team already.]
With Jones-Bell’s decision to depart, the Tide still had 11 wide receivers for the 2023 season. Since the 2022 season ended, a total of six wide receivers have left UA via the transfer portal. That list includes Aaron Anderson, JoJo Earle, Tyler Harrell, Traeshon Holden, Christian Leary and most recently Jones-Bell.
Holden starred for Oregon this year and UCF featured Leary. The ONLY player on he above list Saban tried hard to keep was Anderson, now at LSU.
The NCAA transfer portal’s 30-day window opened Monday, and players have until Jan. 2 to choose to transfer out.
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