Da’Shawn Hand football recruit updates: top 2014 defensive end

Alabama landed five-star prospect Da’Shawn Hand on Thursday, beating out Michigan for the the defensive end’s services. But despite Rivals suggesting otherwise, Jabrill Peppers, a five-star defensive back, isn’t currently planning on flipping from the Wolverines to join Hand with the Crimson Tide, according to his coach.

After the speculation that Peppers might be interested in flipping from U-M to ‘Bama, his high school coach denied the idea:

Alabama received some good news Thursday, as top-five high school prospect Da’Shawn Hand announced his verbal pledge to the Tide in a ceremony at his high school. Hand, rated as the fourth-best player in the country by the 247sports composite, is a defensive end from Virginia, making it five states (the others being Louisiana, South Carolina, Oklahoma and Iowa) where the Tide have secured the top prospect.

Roll Bama Roll is impressed with the young defensive end, who is the 23rd commitment of the Tide’s class.

Hand is one of the top players in the country. A five-star defensive end from Woodbridge (Va.), hand chose the Tide over Michigan and Florida. He is Alabama’s 23rd commitment in the 2014 class, and the third five-star.

There’s still about two and a half months until National Signing Day, when Hand can make it official (and permanent), but he’s been so deliberate and business-like throughout the process — heck, he announced this date all the way back in August — that it doesn’t feel like a switch is coming. You never know, of course, but sometimes you have a pretty solid idea.

Hand is a consensus five-star recruit, and is probably the best strong-side defensive end prospect in the country. He holds offers from every major school in the nation and has been a major prospect for the entirety of his high school career.

Hand has three finalists: Michigan, Alabama and Florida.

The chase for Da’Shawn Hand will last another three months, but not much more: the nation’s No. 1 recruit announced a date for his commitment via Twitter Sunday.

That’s a few days after his last scheduled high school game for Woodbridge (Va.), although before any playoff games. Although it’s somewhat early in the process with many big name recruits waiting until Signing Day in early February, he’ll take his time to weigh the three schools he’s considering: Alabama, Florida, and Michigan.

Da’Shawn Hand has eliminated Virginia Tech and South Carolina from the running for his commitment, and named a final three of Alabama, Florida and Michigan. Hand, a 6’5, 247-pound defensive end from Woodbridge (Va.) High School, is either the first or second-highest rated recruit in the 2014 recruiting class, depending on which service you prefer. Many thought the in-state Hokies would have a great shot at landing him.

Hand spoke with SB Nation’s Bud Elliott back in the beginning of June, and while he said that Virginia Tech defensive coordinator Bud Foster was his favorite coach, he actually hadn’t spoken with Foster “in a while.” He also said that his favorite coaching staff was at Michigan. When asked why he eliminated Virginia Tech and South Carolina and named his favorites, Hand told Elliott this:

National No. 1 2014 recruit Da’Shawn Hand was in Columbus this weekend for an Ohio State visit and the Nike Football Training Camp. He talked to SB Nation about his visit and his recruitment.

He also talked to Bruce Feldman about the most absurd thing any coach has said to him so far:

Defensive end Da’Shawn Hand is one of the top recruits in the country. Out of Woodbridge (Va.) High School, Hand holds more than 40 scholarship offers, and is a consensus five-star recruit.

Hand is trying to become one of the only players ever to be invited to Nike’s The Opening twice. Last year, he was one of a handful of rising juniors to attend. He’ll have his chance Sunday afternoon at the Nike Football Training Camp in Columbus, Oh.

Five-star defensive end Da’Shawn Hand, considered by many to be the best player in the class of 2014, will visit Auburn this weekend, a sign the school has entered a race most think is led by Michigan and Virginia Tech:

When the 6’5, 247-pound junior released a top-five list back in January, Auburn didn’t make the cut, with the Wolverines and Hokies joined by Alabama, North Carolina and South Carolina. But Gus Malzahn has apparently figured out how to work the Tigers into the mix.

From Bud Elliott’s scouting report:

Hand has taken unofficial visits with a number of the top college football programs in the nation, including Ohio State, Virginia Tech, and Alabama, among others. He already has a huge list of scholarship offers, but Michigan, Virginia Tech, Alabama, Florida and South Carolina are currently considered the leaders for his services.

Who’s best? That eternal question always seems to emerge in every aspect of competition, and recruiting is no different, particularly with each year’s class. Our early contender is defensive end Da’Shawn Hand, who everyone seems to be locking in as the can’t-miss prospect.

Hand is part of a stacked recruiting class from the state of Virginia. The consensus five-star defensive end hails from Woodbridge (Va.) High. Hand stands at 6’5 and weighs in at 250 pounds. As of February, Hand reports offers from most major college football programs with over three dozen offers, including schools like Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Ohio State, LSU, Michigan, Notre Dame, South Carolina, Stanford, USC and Virginia Tech.