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Alabama has landed a commitment from Ackerman (Miss.) Choctaw County wide receiver Caleb Cunningham. The 6-foot-3, 190-pound pass-catcher revealed his verbal pledge on Saturday, selecting the Crimson Tide over Auburn, Florida, Tennessee, Ole Miss, and Mississippi State.
It’s a huge win for coach Kalen DeBoer, who secures a fourth 5-star prospect for the 2025 class. Cunningham is ranked as one of the top 15 players in the country in his cycle by the industry-generated 247 Composite. And the prospect of pairing Cunningham with Duncanville (Texas) 5-star quarterback Keelon Russell has to be exciting for everyone involved.
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“Alabama is Alabama,” he told Bama247. “The tradition there, they have a great program and everything there that I need to be successful at my position and for my body. I love the coaching staff and I love what they have going on. They have a great quarterback room also.”
Cunningham is the top-ranked recruit from the state of Mississippi, per the 247 Composite. He’s also the No. 2 receiver in the class. In the national player rankings, he sits at No. 13 overall.
He was immediately productive as a freshman, when he had 10 touchdowns and 569 yards on 31 receptions. As a junior last fall, he caught 48 balls for 1,138 yards and 14 touchdowns.
Cunningham is a multi-sport athlete who also plays basketball and competes in track and field. He was named the Starkville Daily News All-Area High School Basketball Player of the Year as a junior, and he was a Mississippi 2A state qualifier in the triple jump and the long jump as a sophomore.
There were questions about DeBoer’s ability to recruit at an elite level when he first took the Alabama job, but those concerns seem to have long been put to rest.
The 2025 cycle for Alabama features 21 known commitments now with Cunningham’s pledge. He’s the top-ranked prospect who is publicly part of the class, adding to a group that ranks second in the country. Russell, California corner Dijon Lee, and Georgia linebacker Darrell Johnson are all 5-star pledges. Fourteen more are 4-stars.
Only Ohio State’s class ranks above Alabama’s so far this cycle. And those are the only 2 programs with more than 2 known 5-stars committed to them.
Alabama is expected to challenge for another 10-win season (ESPN Bet has even odds on an over for 9.5) and a spot in the College Football Playoff (+105 to make the CFP at ESPN Bet). If DeBoer goes out in his debut season and rolls, the Crimson Tide won’t miss a beat on the recruiting trail.
You can see Cunningham’s highlight tape below, via Hudl:
Derek Peterson does a bit of everything, not unlike Taysom Hill. He has covered Oklahoma, Nebraska, the Pac-12, and now delivers CFB-wide content.
