Alabama

Colorado LB Nikhai Hill-Green to transfer to Alabama football. What it means for Crimson Tide

Published

11 months ago

December 21, 2024

Colorado LB Nikhai Hill-Green to transfer to Alabama football. What it means for Crimson Tide

An all-conference linebacker is joining Alabama football for the 2025 season.

Nikhai Hill-Green, a former Michigan and Charlotte linebacker who was second-team All-Big 12 at Colorado in 2024, told On3 he would transfer to the Crimson Tide for his final season of eligibility.

Hill-Green is the seventh player to join Alabama ahead of 2025 along with Cal long snapper David Bird, Colorado School of Mines punter Blake Doud, Florida defensive lineman Kelby Collins, Utah cornerback Cameron Calhoun, Texas A&M offensive lineman Kam Dewberry and Miami wide receiver Isaiah Horton.

Hill-Green is the third transfer commitment Saturday along with Horton and Dewberry.

What Alabama football gets in Colorado LB Nikhai Hill-Green

Hill-Green is coming off his most productive collegiate season yet.

The former four-star linebacker out of Baltimore was the Buffaloes’ second-leading tackler with 82, adding 11.5 tackles-for-loss, two sacks, four pass deflections and two interceptions.

Hill-Green had a 13-tackle performance against Kansas State. He also had back-to-back games against Texas Tech and Utah where he had an interception.

Hill-Green improved upon his productive 2023 season at Charlotte where he had 73 tackles, nine tackles-for-loss, two sacks and three pass deflections.

Hill-Green originally signed with Michigan in the 2020 class and played two seasons with the Wolverines.

Alabama football depth chart: Where does Nikhai Hill-Green fit?

Alabama’s linebacker room is about to get a lot younger.

The Crimson Tide added four linebackers in the 2025 recruiting class: Ohio four-star Justin Hill, Georgia four-star Darrell Johnson, Georgia four-star Luke Metz and California four-star Abduall Sanders Jr.

It’s a room currently in a bit of a transition period, one that will not have Que Robinson and Justin Jefferson in 2025 while Jihaad Campbell and Deontae Lawson are both NFL draft eligible.

Depending on the status of Campbell and Lawson, Alabama could be looking to fill two linebacker spots next to Wolf Qua Russaw. And other than the four freshmen, Alabama’s room does not have many options with players expected to return such as Justin Okoronkwo, Jeremiah Alexander and Cayden Jones.

Hill-Green is a plug-and-play starter, likely at the Mike, one that gives Alabama a chance to develop younger members of the room instead of throwing them into the fire as freshmen.

Colin Gay covers Alabama football for The Tuscaloosa News, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at cgay@gannett.com or follow him @_ColinGay on X, formerly known as Twitter.

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Alabama

Lawmakers question need and purpose of Alabama Beverage Control as costs rise

Published

5 hours ago

November 10, 2025

Press Room

Lawmakers question need and purpose of Alabama Beverage Control as costs rise

The Alabama Beverage Control Board, established in 1937 to regulate alcohol sales, is facing criticism from state officials over recent decisions impacting liquor pricing. State Rep. Juandalynn Givan expressed concerns about the board’s role, stating, “I don’t care how you look at it but it is monopolizing a process or the sale of alcohol right here in Alabama for which at some point, that board was created not to do.”

A recent increase in bailment fees from 72 cents to a dollar (which comes out to about a 2 cent increase per bottle) has sparked debate, with Givan and other lawmakers questioning the board’s ability to make fee changes. “Maybe the regulations need to be a little different or at best we need to find out are they authorized by law to be able to make these modifications because this is a serious increase,” she said.

Alabama ranks among the top three states for liquor taxes, prompting concerns that consumers may seek alternatives. “People also drive over to Georgia because you can go to Georgia right next door so you have to look at that and I suspect after a while it will be just like with the lottery ticket. People will start going back to Georgia,” Givan noted.

State Sen. Arthur Orr advocates for Alabama to exit the retail alcohol market, citing competition between about 600 private retailers and 170 state (ABC) stores. “It makes no sense conceptually why we still have this two system operation when it comes to the sale of alcohol we need to get out of the retail sales and then eventually get out of the distribution,” Orr said. He had previously seen estimates for potential state savings around $110 to $120 million annually over a decade if the state exits retail sales.

A price comparison reveals that liquor in Alabama is about 8% more expensive pre-tax than in Georgia, where liquor taxes are approximately 83.4% lower. Orr, who has previously sponsored bills for change in the ABC, suggests legislative action may be delayed until a new governor takes office due to Gov. Kay Ivey’s stance on the ABC.

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Alabama

The lingering St. John’s reminder after disappointing Alabama loss

Published

23 hours ago

November 9, 2025

Press Room

The lingering St. John’s reminder after disappointing Alabama loss

At this time last year, in what turned out to be the best St. John’s season since the 1999-2000 campaign, the Red Storm trailed Quinnipiac at halftime at Carnesecca Arena.

A few weeks later, they went 1-2 during a disappointing trip to the Bahamas that featured late-game shortcomings.

Why the history lesson, you may ask?

Consider it a reminder for those who forgot: Last season wasn’t all rainbows and sunshine. There were issues that really weren’t ironed out until January. St. John’s wasn’t a lockdown defensive team in November, despite the revisionist history I’ve seen on social media. Kadary Richmond, the big transfer portal addition, didn’t find his game until the new year.

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Alabama

Alabama-LSU football rivalry still great, but won’t ever be the same again | Goodbread

Published

2 days ago

November 9, 2025

Press Room

Alabama-LSU football rivalry still great, but won’t ever be the same again | Goodbread

An era came to an end on Saturday in Bryant-Denny Stadium, and it’s hard to say the next era is an improvement.

Hard, but not impossible.

Alabama football handled important business at home in beating LSU 20-9 as coach Kalen DeBoer ran his two-year home record to 12-0. Outside the stadium, it felt very much like the fiery rivalry it’s become; well-captured for posterity by intrepid beat reporter Colin Gay. Inside the stadium, only LSU’s broken season − the Tigers entered with three losses and an interim coach after Brian Kelly’s firing − made it seem anything less.

It was still the passion-filled, hard-hitting affair that it’s always been.

But it also marked the last year of the SEC’s commitment to pit these two programs annually. They’ll play only twice over the next four years, then the league will re-evaluate its new scheduling format that increased league games to nine per team. It’s just not going to be the same going forward, and no, it’s not really a rivalry anymore, because it can’t be circled on every calendar.

So it’s with a lump in the throat that this goodbye must be said, but the alternative would’ve been more like a lump on the head. The SEC assigned Auburn, Tennessee and Mississippi State to Alabama as its three annual opponents over the four-year schedule cycle from 2026-2029, and of course, Auburn and Tennessee were the right two rivalries to keep. They just mean more to the fan base, and for the SEC, they mean more for television ratings. As for the decision to include Mississippi State, that comports with the league’s effort to maintain some balance in the difficulty of each school’s three annual foes, as well as a parallel goal of geographical proximity.

Of course, the 2025 season by itself makes a poor argument that Tennessee, Auburn and LSU would’ve been too tough an annual trio to saddle Alabama or anyone else with. Tennessee’s not bad, Auburn’s not good, and LSU’s not anything special. But across time, those are three programs that have proven they’ll invest the resources necessary to be a dangerous foe in any given year, and that’s not something that can be said about Mississippi State.

Speaking of programs with resources, Alabama will catch Texas twice in the same four-year cycle, not coincidentally in the two years that it won’t face LSU. In other words, the TV monster will be well-fed regardless, and navigating an SEC schedule won’t be a picnic for anyone. That’s to be expected when the deepest league in the sport adds two helmets like Texas and Oklahoma.

The Alabama-LSU breakup was the right thing to do, but it be strange absence from the schedule. The 2027 season will mark the first year it won’t be played in my lifetime, and I’m 54. The last time it wasn’t played (1963), BeatleMania swept the UK and a gallon of gas set people back 30 cents.

And boy have there been some big ones.

LSU’s 9-6 overtime win in 2011 was truly epic. A defensive struggle for the ages with future NFL players all over the field. Rightly billed as the Game of the Century, it might’ve been the last truly great defensive game, at least played by a pair of national powers at the time, before RPO offenses changed everything. Celebrities from LeBron James to Shaq to dignitaries like Condoleezza Rice lined the sideline. The whole scene belongs in a museum.

There have been some marvelous finishes, too.

Just a year after the 9-6 game, AJ McCarron hit T.J. Yeldon with a screen pass for a 28-yard touchdown in the final minute for a 21-17 win.

Former Alabama LB Marvin Constant stuffed Josh Booty at the goal line on the final play of the 1999 game to preserve a 23-17 Alabama win, and it all but cost him his career. Constant blew out multiple knee ligaments on the play, and was never quite the same player again.

It’s been a long and memorable marriage.

But with the advent of the nine-game schedule, it’s a marriage that’s run its course.

Tuscaloosa News columnist Chase Goodbread is also the weekly co-host of Crimson Cover TV on WVUA-23. Reach him at cgoodbread@gannett.com. Follow on X.com @chasegoodbread.

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