Amari Sabb commits to Alabama football. His brother wasn’t the only reason

Amari Sabb has his own football story. And it’s one his older brother, Keon, wanted to be a part of.

Keon Sabb always wanted to play with Amari, just like Amari and the youngest Sabb brother, Xavier, did, winning back-to-back state championships at Glassboro High School in New Jersey. And with Keon Sabb returning for one last season with Alabama football, he had set up the chance to make his dream a reality.

But Keon made it abundantly clear. Amari Sabb’s collegiate decision would be Amari’s and Amari’s alone.

“He always told me, he was like, ‘It’s your decision at the end of the day. …Don’t just go there because I’m here,’” Amari Sabb told The Tuscaloosa News.

Amari Sabb, a 2026 three-star wide receiver, made Keon’s dream come true, signing with the Crimson Tide and joining Alabama’s second-ranked recruiting class as its fourth wide receiver.

But the decision itself wasn’t about Keon. It started with the program itself.

“I always knew about Alabama when I was younger, them being a powerhouse program,” Amari Sabb said. “But actually getting up there and seeing the stuff for yourself with your own eyes, it’s just like, how can you not be at this school? With the rich history, the rich program, always going to be a good team. How can’t you go there?”

Sabb saw an opportunity at Alabama, one that he’s been working up to since he first touched a football at age 5 in a game that ended in him scoring his first four touchdowns, since he acquired offers from Penn State, Ole Miss and Georgia in the seventh grade.

“Amari has never shied away from the bright lights,” Glassboro High School football coach Timmy Breaker said. “He actually welcomes the bright lights.”

What Amari Sabb brings to Alabama football

Those “bright lights” Sabb welcomes have brought pain for high school defensive backs all over New Jersey.

Opposing defenses would double team Sabb, Breaker said, not with the intention of stopping the slot receiver entirely, but just slowing him down. The 5-foot-9, 165-pound four-year starter and captain was the New Jersey equivalent of Jahmyr Gibbs and Tavon Austin, Breaker said, a “breakaway guy with breakaway speed” who could make opposing defenses look silly from the slot, in the backfield or wherever he was needed.

“He’s the jack of all trades,” Breaker said. “He’s the Swiss Army Knife.”

After recording 1,116 receiving yards and 18 total touchdowns as a junior in 2024, per MaxPreps, Sabb had 1,739 total yards and averaged nearly 15 yards per play this fall. He scored 26 total touchdowns.

But for Sabb, it wasn’t just on offense.

Sabb described himself as a play-making, ball-hawking, lock-down nickel cornerback, skills that give him the upper hand in the mind games at the line of scrimmage as a slot receiver, skills that allow him to know what goes through the mind of each defensive back he faces as they try and decipher his routes.

“They are just nervous,” Sabb said. “As soon as they line up, they know it’s going to be a long day.”

Amari Sabb is now the example

Sabb sees the path to success at Alabama.

Even with a new hire in wide receivers coach Derrick Nix, Sabb sees a program that develops receivers, including receivers like Lotzeir Brooks who looks like him and his from New Jersey.

But Sabb knows what it takes to get there, something his brother Keon didn’t hide.

“He just tell me it’s not going to be easy,” Amari Sabb said. “I have to work as hard as I ever have.”