Saban wants new recruits to show up early this summer

Here's one wish Alabama coach Nick Saban can't necessarily make come true: To have all the signees in school when the first summer session begins June 3.

Saban said it is a "tremendous advantage" to get incoming freshmen on campus early and it has always been his goal at every college coaching stop.

"It's the intention of every one of our freshmen that we recruited that they will come in early if they can get certified academically through the (NCAA) Clearinghouse in time," Saban said. "That's the philosophy that we'd like to use."

But he can't order them to get there that early. The NCAA doesn't allow new arrivals to work during the summer with the coaches, though they can do strength and conditioning, watch film and participate in voluntary workouts with other Crimson Tide players while getting acclimated to campus.

Two signees have beaten Saban's timetable. Receiver Chris Jackson and kicking specialist Corey Smith enrolled in January and went through spring practice.

Another receiver recruit, Destin Hood, is an exception. He won't enroll for the first summer session because the standout shortstop is a potential early-round pick in the baseball draft on June 5-6.

"It's starting to head that way," his father Dewayne Hood told the Press-Register of Mobile in a story Friday. "If he's drafted right, he's probably going to play baseball."

Other players likely will have to wait until later, too.

Defensive lineman Kerry Murphy, who spent last season at Hargrave Military Academy, is waiting on scholastic test scores to qualify. Others could require summer school at their respective high schools.

"You have to manage every one of these situations relative to what's best for the player," Saban said. "Philosophically, you want to work with the family so you can do this. We've been through these issues many times before. (Quarterback) Matt Mauck signed a baseball contract and didn't come to Michigan State. Well, he ended up at LSU and won the national championship."