ORLANDO, FL - JANUARY 01: Players from the Alabama Crimson Tide greet fans after winning the Capitol One Bowl against the Michigan State Spartans at the Florida Citrus Bowl on January 1, 2011 in Orlando, Florida. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)
Inside linebacker for Alabama Accesses the Transfer Portal
The junior linebacker’s collegiate football eligibility is still valid for one more season.
The fallout from Alabama’s Saturday deadline to enter the transfer portal continues on Monday afternoon as another Crimson Tide player has entered the portal.
Junior linebacker Kendrick Blackshire put his name into the portal over the weekend according to Brandon Howard of Rivals.com.
Blackshire, a former 4-star recruit out of Texas was considered the No. 21 overall linebacker and the No. 30 overall prospect in the state of Texas in the 2021 class.
The 6-foot-2, 233 pound linebacker appeared in 25 games over three seasons playing on special teams and in a reserve linebacker role. He was known as a hard hitter on the coverage teams and ultimately tallied 25 tackles and forced one fumble while recovering another.
He becomes Alabama’s 18th player to enter the portal during this offseason cycle and the second inside backer, joining Ian Jackson.
“He got into the game (and) played fairly well. I think that the big thing we work on with Kendrick is consistency and performance,” said Alabama head coach Nick Saban about Blackshire’s play against Middle Tennessee State. “When he’s locked in and focused he plays really, really well but you got to be able to do it all the time so that you develop the kind of confidence, trust in yourself and your teammates that you need to be a consistent player overall. But he played well in the game when he got a chance to play.”
Deontae Lawson and Jihaad Campbell, who both started at interior linebacker for Alabama, return for the 2024 squad, which will make it more difficult for Blackshire to get meaningful playing time in his final season of college.
The former outstanding player from Duncanville High School choose Alabama over Texas A&M and LSU. In the portal, he will probably be in great demand considering his time and experience as an Alabama player.
