Alabama took the lead and never looked back.
Quite common on the college football field, it often is the case in recruiting the next round of talent headed to Tuscaloosa and it turned out to be the case for Isaiah Hastings. The Canada native, and the top prospect the country will produce in the class of 2022, proclaimed Nick Saban's program as his leader in October and wrapped up his recruiting with a commitment Tuesday morning to correspond with his 18th birthday.
"If you go to Alabama," he said after the official visit. "You're literally playing for a dynasty and the greatest coach of all time."
Tough to debate that.
Playing out his 2021 season at Clearwater (Fla.) Academy International, Hastings has taken the next step in his development on American soil. He arrived at the program that has produced considerable FBS college talent with a few scholarship offers, doubling the amount in the first week after the move.
The 6'4", 295-pound prospect wound up with 30 before making the public pledge to end the process with Alabama.
"What I really like about Alabama is that they're winners and they want to be the best," Hastings said. "That's something I want to be as well. But when you meet them it's more of a family feel. From the outside looking in it's like, 'oh 'Bama, they're very serious and militant.' And they are very serious about the game, but it also has a family appeal."
Alabama offered after Hastings put a few games on tape this fall at CAI, where he lived in the opposing backfield due to great power, better quickness than his size suggests along with a consistent motor at his size.
"He just didn't know what he was doing, nothing against him," Clearwater Academy International coach Jesse Chinchar told SI. "We've forgotten that he came down with two years of football under his belt. He didn't know how to properly get down in a three-point stance yet. It shows the ascent of this kid.
"He went from somebody twitchy with some potential to a guy who is choosing between top-five schools. It's a testament to his hard work and his development."
Hastings was planning to take other college visits, including a re-scheduled official visit to Oregon, with a decision likely later in the process. Georgia, Florida and Michigan were among those in consistent contact and under consideration.
But Alabama could offer something the others could not, at least relative to the last decade-and-a-half under Saban.
"He said this to me...'why would I not want to play for the greatest coach in college football history and be able to be a part of a dynasty?" the coach said. "People recruit against Alabama saying that you're not going to play, because they recruit so well, but Isaiah said, 'that's the type of environment I want to go into -- where I have no choice but to get better.'"
Alabama has a bit of a reputation for landing key Canadian prospects, headlined by wide receiver John Metchie III, something included in the recruiting pitch to Hastings beyond the football roster itself.
Prep ball in Canada was all but cancelled in 2020, so the evaluation required even more information-gathering than it would compared to that of an American prospect. The more thorough scouting report is neccessary considering the lack of game tape relative to domestic talent.
"They did their due diligence, Coach (Freddie) Roach had been following him since he was up in Canada," Chinchar said. "They continued to track him as he came down and were at the Trinity Christian game (Sept. 17), they did their due diligence on calling about character and stuff like that. But the main thing they said was, 'this is what we're looking for, in terms of an Alabama defensive lineman.' All the athletic ability and of course the upside since he hasn't played that much football.
"We see that with international guys. What they do is just as impressive as top national recruits, but it's with a lot less football. It makes me think their ceiling is higher and I know Coach Roach thought the same thing."
Hastings, who has helped CAI to a n 8-2 record in 2021, will sign next month as part of the No. 1 recruiting class in the cycle to date. With plans to enroll at the university in January, the senior is the third interior defensive line recruit to pledge to Saban's latest haul, joining Mississippi's Jaheim Oatis and Louisiana's Walter Bob.
