LB Riley Cole Decommits from Alabama Due to Grayshirt Request

Three-star LB Riley Cole out of Oneonta has decommitted from Alabama via Twitter, and it isn't pretty:

Deuteronomy 31:6. pic.twitter.com/l3C7aVKMNm

— Riley cole (@Rileyc44) January 31, 2016

This is something of a puzzling development since there appears to be plenty of room left in the 2016 class. It is important to note that a grayshirt offer means that the staff is still offering him a scholarship but asking him to wait until January to enroll, presumably due to numbers. Cole had committed back in June of 2015 and never wavered. He did suffer a reportedly "severely sprained" MCL that he has mostly recovered from but is apparently not yet 100%. Still, whether the key driving factor is the injury or that the staff is expecting to get some great news on National Signing Day, this one is not going to play well in the media. Best of luck to Riley, wherever he lands.