On Thursday, sophomore quarterback Jarrett Stidham, of Baylor, announced on Twitter he would be the latest to leave the Bears.
— Jarrett Stidham (@Jarrett_Stidham) July 7, 2016
Stidham was highly-touted coming out of high school, ranking as the No. 2 dual-threat quarterback in the class of 2015, according to 247Sports Composite Rankings. Stidham was born in Corbin, Kentucky, and attended high school in Stephenville, Texas.
Naturally with being a highly-ranked high school quarterback, Southeastern Conference schools were knocking at his door. The teams that were interested included Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Kentucky, Ole Miss, Tennessee, Texas A&M and Vanderbilt.
Here’s a top-10 list Stidham tweeted out during his initial recruitment period:
TOP 10 pic.twitter.com/OIZLELpedn
— Jarrett Stidham (@Jarrett_Stidham) February 7, 2014
Stidham initially committed to Texas Tech during his time in high school. He then decommitted, and sought after life with Baylor.
Just three weeks after he posted his top-10 list, Stidham talked with Saturday Down South about his recruitment and the schools he was interested in. Alabama was one of them.
“It is very flattering,” Stidham said in the article. “It’s definitely kind of crazy. Growing up I always wanted to play for the best team in the country and win championships and Alabama has proven itself. It all definitely opens your eyes.”
Stidham started three games as a true freshman this past season for the Bears, after starting quarterback Seth Russell went down with an injury. Stidham appeared in 10 games total, throwing for 1,265 yards with 12 touchdowns and two interceptions.
The former four-star recruit completed 68.8 percent of his passes. If an SEC school can get that kind of production from a quarterback, they would surely welcome it.
Twitter: @KidCuni
