After weeks of speculation, five-star tailback Damien Harris announced Friday afternoon that he has verbally committed to play for the University of Alabama beginning this fall. Harris chose the Crimson Tide over Kentucky and Ohio State.

“Through a lot of hard thinking … I’ve decided that I’m going to further my education, get a degree and continue a football career at the University of Alabama,” Harris said.

He’ll join a crowded Alabama backfield next season that includes the likes of Derrick Henry, Kenyan Drake, Altee Tenpenny and Tyren Jones, to name a few. He’ll also be joined in Alabama’s 2015 class by four-star tailback and early enrollee Desherrius Flowers.

Harris hails from Barea, Ky., located just 40 miles from Kentucky’s campus, and as a result it was widely considered that the Wildcats were the most likely team to pluck him away from the Tide.

Harris ran for 1,507 yards and 23 touchdowns as a senior at Madison Southern High School in 2014, averaging better than 15 yards per carry in the process. He earned an invite to last week’s Under Armour High School All-America game, and ran for a game-high 110 yards and a touchdown at 6.9 yards per attempt.

He said after the Under Armour game that a coach like Nick Saban and the wealth of talent on Alabama’s roster were major selling points in his recruitment, ultimately out-weighing the appeal of staying close to home to play for the emerging Kentucky football program.

“I know the time, the effort, the hard work that goes into (a rebuilding process),” Harris said after last week’s All-America game. “But at the same time I’ve been battling with do I want to go somewhere that’s already established where I have great players around me.”

Harris chose the talent-laden Tide, and will now have a chance to shine on one of college football’s biggest stages. Alabama has won 10 or more games for seven years in a row, and has placed three tailbacks in the NFL during that span (Mark Ingram, Trent Richardson and Eddie Lacy — T.J. Yeldon will become the fourth when he’s selected in this April’s draft).

With Harris now onboard, Alabama’s No. 1-rated recruiting class now boasts five five-star signees and commits, as well as 15 four-star signees and commits with more than three weeks still remaining before National Signing Day arrives.