Eddie Lacy, the 5-foot-11, 205-pound four-star running back from Dutchtown High School in Geismar, La., didn't have the senior season he'd hoped for.
Before the season began Lacy suffered a left knee MCL sprain causing him to miss a few games, then he suffered a right ankle sprain during the season and only played in about seven total games. He still managed to rush for 1,046 yards and 17 touchdowns, playing hurt most of the year.
Off the field things haven't been much better as Lacy's grades have held back his recruiting. He says he had offers from Alabama, Tennessee, Florida State, Southern Miss, Oregon State, Oklahoma, Ole Miss and others, but admits that only the Crimson Tide are still recruiting him.
"Right now Alabama is the only school that is really talking to me," he said. "They've talked with me about visiting them and they send mail and call all the time. The only other ones I still somewhat hear from are Southern Miss and Ole Miss, but not as much."
Lacy says he's planning on visiting Alabama officially on Jan. 10, but says that date isn't rally firm yet.
"I like Alabama because they run the ball a lot, but the offense isn't one dimensional," he said. "They have a good passing game too and the defense is great. Coach Nick Saban is a great coach so I'm not too surprised they did so well this year.
"I've liked coach Saban since he recruited my brother when he was still at LSU," he said. "I knew he'd do well at Alabama."
So what impressed Lacy the most about the Tide this season? "It was real cool how they played a lot of freshman," he said. "They still overcame things and won some big games."
Lacy, ranked as the No. 19 running back in the country by Scout.com, reports a 2.0 core GPA and a 17 ACT, which he retook earlier this month. "I'm close to qualifying," he said. "I need like a 2.6 GPA or to do a lot better on the ACT. I'm taking two correspondence classes now and that'll help my GPA."
And if Lacy doesn't qualify? "If I don't get the grades then I'll look into junior college," he said. "But they haven't talked with me about that yet."
Lacy admits he plans to delay his decision as long as possible because of his grades. "It'll be a last minute thing," he said. "I want to see where my grades are and if I need to make other plans or not."