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Eli Lederman, ESPN Staff Writer
Alabama landed its fourth top-30 commitment in the 2025 class Tuesday afternoon when four-star prospect Akylin Dear, the No. 2 running back in the 2025 cycle, announced his pledge to the Crimson Tide.
Dear, a former Ole Miss commit from Quitman, Mississippi, is the No. 29 prospect in the 2025 ESPN 300. The 6-foot, 205-pound Dear committed to Alabama over the Rebels and fellow in-state finalist Mississippi State after reopening his recruitment earlier this summer, handing Kalen DeBoer the latest high-profile addition to his inaugural recruiting class with the Crimson Tide.
Alabama now holds 15 top-300 commitments in 2025, led by Dear and fellow top-30 pledges offensive tackle Ty Haywood (No. 18 in the ESPN 300), wide receiver Caleb Cunningham (No. 19) and cornerback Dijon Lee Jr. (No. 25). The Crimson Tide sit at No. 2 in ESPN’s latest team rankings for the 2025 cycle as Dear’s pledge gives the Crimson Tide another piece of positive momentum in the program’s pursuit of landing the nation’s top signing class this fall.
“I’m excited to be a part of an elite organization that is going to compete every year and strive to win a national championship,” Dear told ESPN. “I’m going to be able to say I play for Alabama Crimson Tide, which is probably one of the greatest programs ever in the history of college football. Being able to follow in the footsteps of so many greats and accepting the challenge to be elite above all other things has always been my overall goal.”
According to ESPN rankings, Dear is the No. 2 prospect in the state of Mississippi for his class. He emerged among the nation’s top running backs in the backfield at Quitman High School during the fall of 2022, when he rushed for 800 yards and 21 touchdowns in his sophomore season. High-level offers across the Power 4 followed, and Dear’s recruiting profile ballooned further in a junior year that saw him total 2,016 rushing yards and 27 touchdowns last fall.
Dear initially committed to Ole Miss on March 30 of this year. At the time, he represented the top prospect committed to Lane Kiffin’s latest class and an important get for the Rebels after the program did not sign a running back in the 2024 class. But Dear’s verbal pledge ultimately lasted not even three months, as he decommitted from Ole Miss on June 28, pulling his pledge in the midst of a flurry of late-June exits from the Rebels’ 2025 class.
“I thought [Ole Miss] was what I really wanted, but at the same time I was really kind of just overwhelmed and tired of the recruitment process,” Dear said. “During my search, I’ve always [sought] the feeling of a sense of home, and I didn’t feel that entirely when I was committed to Ole Miss. Something just was missing.”
Dear took spring official visits to Florida and Alabama before his decommitment, and he told ESPN the move to reopen his recruitment provided an opportunity to reevaluate his priorities at the next level. One month after decommitting from Ole Miss, Dear was back in Tuscaloosa for Alabama’s Champions Cook-Out. Notably, Dear did not take official visits to Ole Miss or Mississippi State during the summer before committing to the Crimson Tide.
Alabama associate head coach Freddie Roach and running backs coach Robert Gillespie led Dear’s recruitment for the Crimson Tide.
“It felt like home,” Dear said of Alabama. “The coaching staff, the environment, the pursuit of greatness as an organization, the vibe of all the players, the number of running backs that they have produced and put in the NFL. Most of all, [Gillespie] has been absolutely great to me, and genuinely believes in me and my ability to contribute to his room.”
As one of those 15 ESPN 300 commits pledged to the Crimson Tide’s 2025 class, Dear joins fellow top-100 rusher Anthony Rogers (No. 98 in the ESPN 300) as the only running back committed to Alabama in this cycle. The Crimson Tide lost a commitment from four-star athlete/running back pledge Zymear Smith (No. 137) in July. Smith later committed to Maryland.