With Alabama and Michigan just days away from squaring off in the Vrbo Citrus Bowl, BamaOnLine takes a look back at Najee Harris' recruitment, one of the most memorable in recent Crimson Tide history.

The five-star running back from Antioch (Calif.), ranked the No. 1 ball carrier in the 2017 class, committed to the Crimson Tide during an unofficial visit for A-Day in 2015. With two years remaining in his high school career, the pledge to UA didn’t keep others from pursuing the elite talent, with Michigan generating the most buzz outside of the Tide.

Starting in the summer of 2016, things started getting interesting on the recruiting front. Harris was coming off another stellar season and the Wolverines were hot on his trail. Jim Harbaugh and staff hosted a satellite camp at Antioch High School in June before getting Harris on an unofficial visit for UM’s barbecue later in the summer.

All the while Harris rarely gave recruiting interviews, adding to the mystique surrounding his eventual college destination. By mid-fall, there was a lot of chatter and various reports suggesting Harris was not firm with the Tide as he had plans to take official visits elsewhere. His mother, Tianna Hicks, cleared things up a bit in October of 2016.

“We’re still strong with Alabama,” Hicks told BamaOnLine. “That’s our spot.”

Harris went on to finish his senior season rushing for 2,776 yards and 34 touchdowns and catching 15 passes for another 260 yards and two scores.

His official visit slate included stops at UCLA, Alabama, Cal, and lastly Michigan to round it out in early December. The UM buzz continued to grow heading into the Dead Period (remember, this was the pre Early Signing Period era) and a couple 247Sports Crystal Ball picks were made in favor of Harbaugh and company flipping the five-star back.

Then came the Army Bowl.

Harris arrived in San Antonio and, just like he did his entire recruitment to that point, opted not to talk much about the status of his final decision, which would be decided by the end of the week with his plans to enroll early. At that point there was growing confidence on the UM side that Harris would be enrolling in Ann Arbor. Even his brother took to Twitter supporting the Wolverines’ efforts to flip Harris’ commitment.

As the week went on, and the Michigan chatter grew, it turned to flight tracking as potential indicators of where Harris would end up when he left San Antonio (remember, pre Early Signing Period era). Tide quarterback commit Tua Tagovailoa — a close friend of Harris from the previous summer’s The Opening Finals — chimed in saying he and Harris were on the same flight from Texas to Birmingham that Sunday.

That didn’t end the UM talk, though. After the game on Saturday, when asked if he knew which school he’d be traveling to the next day, Harris said he remained unsure.

“I don’t know where I’m going,” Harris told BamaOnLine. “I’m not even thinking about it. I’ve got to talk about it some more, talk to the coaches some more.”

Sunday came and, despite even some reports stating Harris was on his way back home to California, Harris did indeed travel with Tagovailoa to Birmingham to begin his career with the Crimson Tide.

Entering next Wednesday’s Citrus Bowl, Harris has rushed for 1,088 yards and 11 touchdowns to go with 304 receiving yards and seven additional scores.

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