



Five-star running back Kendall Milton returned to Tuscaloosa last week alongside his family for the second time since April.

The return trip marked the Clovis (Calif.) Buchanan product’s fourth and final official visit after a busy June that included stops at Ohio State, LSU, and Georgia as well.

“I think this trip we got to see more personality, I guess you could say,” Chris Milton, Kendall’s father, told BamaOnLine of their time in Tuscaloosa. “I don’t want to say it was less business, because it was obviously a business trip, but we got to see a lot more personality from Coach (Nick) Saban and equally with Coach (Steve) Sarkisian and Coach (Charles) Huff … but mainly with Coach Saban. I think our takeaway from that was he’s actually a really nice guy. I think a lot of people look at him as being standoffish or reserved, or whatever the case may be, but when you kind of see how he’s regarded in the community and all of that kind of stuff, I think he’s a really good guy.”

Milton spent time with a trio of Alabama running backs, including a former five-star ball carrier from California.

“We got to hang out with Najee (Harris), Trey (Sanders) and B-Rob (Brian Robinson),” Chris said. “Those were the three that were real visible this weekend. They’re really good kids. You know, it supports the fact of what I always say: you see these kids on television that are these big, old muscular boys that are just beasts running through everybody, but when you take the pads and the helmets off, man, they’re big, old goofy guys. That’s what’s so cool. Trey Sanders went bowling with us, in the bowling alley talking trash, you just see he’s a kid, right out of high school just like Kendall’s going to be in a year. Same with Najee, just a goofy kid. And I don’t say goofy to say they’re not mature, but they’re kids, they still have that aspect of them and like to goof around like everybody else. It was just nice to see that.”

The trip was the last college visit Milton will make before coming to a decision between his four finalists.

“I think Nick’s lasting message was basically reviewing case study, reviewing the history of Bama, reviewing players that have been in this situation, and the success that they’ve seen and how they plan on mirroring those players’ journeys and recreate it with Kendall’s,” Chris said. “He definitely has a home there, he’s highly wanted there, and they have a plan for him — that’s the message we got on the plane with.”

What’s next for the Milton family?

“We’ll let him get through the (Opening Finals), then us as a team — myself, my wife, Kendall, big brother and his trainer/mentor — we’ll all sit down and review everything and ultimately it will be up to Kendall. But in a perfect world he will decide and announce where he’s going to school before August.”

With the Tide, Tigers, Bulldogs and Buckeyes duking it out to land the nation’s No. 3 running back and No. 21 overall player, Chris Milton shed light onto how his son views his finalists.

“This is a very, very honest answer,” he said. “I know Kendall is torn (between his four finalists). He’s preparing to make honestly one of the hardest decisions he’ll ever make in his life. I think he kind of goes back and forth between all of them. I do think right now there’s four hats equally on the table with the same amount of equity. This seventeen-year-old will be forced to make a very hard decision that will impact the rest of his life.”