A-List No. 10: Brookwoodâs William Sanders makes his plan work
It’s about 16 miles from Brookwood High to Bryant-Denny Stadium. It’s a journey that 4-star offensive guard William Sanders started in earnest about two years ago, his high school coach said.
“He started for us as a ninth grader,” Brookwood coach Mike Bramblett said. “At that point, he was 6-2, 220. We met a couple years ago and laid out some goals – what he wanted to get out of this game. He said he wanted to play in the SEC.
“We put together a plan, things he needed to focus on and attack, which he has done. Some of that was gaining weight. He’s about 6-4 and 295 right now. One of his strengths is his ability to run. We pull a lot in the offense that we run being run-heavy. We’re not able to throw the ball like we’d like, so we put him in position to get a lot of extra work on his pass protection. He’s done that and it’s a really important part of his game now.”
Sanders comes in at No. 10 on the AL.com A-List of the top 15 senior recruits in the state of Alabama. He is a 4-star prospect according to On3 and a 3-star on the 247sports, ESPN and Rivals.com boards.
Sanders, the son of a retired military man who is now a Tuscaloosa County deputy sheriff, got 19 Division I college offers before receiving one on June 2 from that team about 16 miles away. Coach Nick Saban and his staff made the offer – the same day he got one from LSU and a day before Mississippi State threw its hat in the ring – and on July 21 he accepted.
“[The Alabama offer] is something I’d hoped and dreamed of as a little kid and to see this become a reality is truly special,” Sanders told Rival.com recruiting writer Brandon Howard.
He plays guard for the Panthers and is expected to continue in that spot in college, although it’s possible he will move to center based on his high football IQ and his leadership potential.
Bramblett’s first thoughts on his star player – the first from Brookwood to commit to UA since 1958 – aren’t about how he is a “punisher” as a blocker.
“He’s an incredible young man,” the coach said. “He has incredibly high character, incredibly high academic standards. Things like integrity and class are just exuded from him. He comes from a great family and they have done a great job with him. They have instilled a great sense of faith and belief, which is very, very important in his life. I think that’s a huge plus for him.”
But his high school coach does lavish high praise on his pulling guard. “What separates him from a lot of people – we’ve got guys who can run – but when he pulls and runs when he gets to the contact point, he’s a finisher. He’s a punisher. He’s not just going to get in front of somebody, he’s going to put somebody on his tail and go looking for somebody else. In drive blocks, in down blocks, he’s great in his use of his hands, he’s got terrific feet. Again, he finishes blocks.”
Sanders also had scholarship offers from Missouri, Vanderbilt, Florida State, Duke, Georgia Tech, North Carolina State, UAB, Syracuse, Central Florida, Troy, Jacksonville State, Tulane, among others.
“At the end of the day,” Sanders told Rivals, “I think about how everything came together for me to get to this point. I didn’t have all the lights and cameras around me, but that didn’t stop me from getting better every day.”
A-LIST NO. 10: WILLIAM SANDERS, BROOKWOOD
Position: Offensive lineman
Height/weight: 6-4, 295
College status: Committed to Alabama.
Randy Kennedy’s scouting report: Brookwood High School has not had a winning season since 1999, but college scouts have still found their way to see Williams Sanders. Sanders is an extremely good athlete who excels at pulling and finishing blocks.
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