Alabama got an early morning Christmas present on Friday when Stone Mountain (Ga.) Stephenson defensive end Aaron Sterling committed to Alabama, according to his recruiting coach Corey Johnson who informed 247Sports’ Keith Niebuhr late Thursday night.

Johnson caught up with BamaOnline to talk about his rising 2017 prospect.

“He’s a great player,” Johnson said. “As a junior he had 24 sacks and about 40 tackles for a loss. He’s very versatile; he has the ability to play multiple positions. He’s about 270 right now, so he can fit on the Alabama defense at defensive end, defensive tackle or linebacker.”

Sterling reached out to head coach Nick Saban and staff last night to let them know of his intentions.

“Coach Saban was with the family last night, so they’re supposed to talk again today,” Johnson said. “He gave him a call yesterday and let him know that’s where he wanted to go to school at.

“They’re excited. I (also) felt like it was a good fit for them.”

According to Johnson, Sterling was hearing from Georgia, Florida and Tennessee quite a bit before his star DE opted for the Tide.

Sterling is commitment No. 9 in the ’17 class. He is recruiting by outside linebackers coach Tosh Lupoi.

Aaron Sterling SDE | 6-1 | 259 Stephenson (Stone Mountain, GA) Class of 17 247Sports Composite 0.8537 Natl 554 Pos 20 State55 Hard Commit 12/25/2015

For more news on Alabama sports and recruiting, follow BamaOnLine on Twitter

