It felt like the whole town of Gordo packed into the high school gym that February morning. Their football star was picking a college and nobody wanted to miss it.

They exploded when Ben Davis pulled out a houndstooth hat to announce he'd be moving 23 miles down US-82 to play at Alabama. A few moments later, the nation's No. 10 overall recruit said the goal was freshman All-American status in Year 1.

Davis was part of another celebration Saturday night as the Crimson Tide won a third straight SEC championship in Atlanta. His debut, however, will have to wait for 2017.

The former five-star recruit's redshirt remained intact 13 games in a twist he didn't see coming.

"No, I wasn't," Davis said in the Georgia Dome locker room after the SEC title game. "But I had really hurt my ankle in camp so I didn't want to lose a year due to my ankle. So, I had to really get that back right."

Davis said he sprained his ankle trying to cut on the artificial turf inside Alabama's indoor practice facility late in preseason camp.

"It took a minute to heal," Davis said. "It was best for me and I had to learn the playbook too so it was good for me to get a year for me under my belt, learn everything about the game and Coach (Nick) Saban's defense and everything and get ready to make a run at A-Day."

At a certain point, Davis knew this would be a redshirt season.

"Oh, they really haven't told me," he said, "but you can kinda figure it out who is and who isn't."

This isn't without precedent. Two years earlier, across the same Georgia Dome locker room, former five-star recruit Marlon Humphrey did the same interview. Like Davis, Humphrey arrived as the son of a famous Tide player who ultimately watched his first season.

"A lot of people have (redshirted) here, I know here is a lot different from other places," Humphrey said after Alabama's 2014 SEC championship win over Missouri. "Most places, even if you're not going to play, you'll play special teams and things like that. But once I soaked up the idea that this would just be a year I could learn and get better."

Now Humphrey, son of running back legend Bobby Humphrey, is No. 1 draft-eligible cornerback in the CBS Sports rankings.

For Davis, the fall of 2016 was spent wearing different jerseys on the scout team. He also spent time in the weight room, adding about 20 pounds.

"All of it muscle," Davis was quick to mention.

His dad, Wayne Davis, started as the Tide's middle linebacker four seasons from 1983-86. And mom, Faye Davis, is also an Alabama alum.

"Like I said to each coach, I'm not asking them to promise me he's going to play," his mom said on signing day. "I know he's going to have to work so we taught him how to work. So, as a result of that, he's going to have to earn whatever. We don't want anyone handing us anything or handing him anything. He's going to have to work and that's what he's going to do."

This has been a quality learning experience for Ben Davis. He said he watched players like Butkus Award winner Reuben Foster and outside linebacker Tim Williams.

"They really teach you how to come to work every day and have fun doing it too," Ben Davis said Saturday night. "Just come ready to grind every day."

And that'll be his plan moving forward.

"Like I said, I really had to learn the playbook too," he said. "So I really needed this year to learn."

Was it maybe harder than expected?

"At first," Davis said, "but I got into the program and learned a lot so I can't really be negative so I just stay positive."