On Thursday, Miami RedHawks head coach Chuck Martin claimed that the Alabama Crimson Tide “illegally” recruited kicker Graham Nicholson away from them, resulting in the Lou Groza winner signing with Alabama out of the transfer portal. But Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer is denying an allegation
During a recent interview ahead of the season, Martin called out Alabama and new head coach Kalen DeBoer for cheating, claiming that the program “illegally recruited” Graham Nicholson and “stole him from us.”
“We didn’t lose him. He’s at Alabama. We know exactly where he’s at,” Martin said when asked about Nicholson. “Again, you media people – it’s all pretend. Like, no. Alabama stole our kicker. They illegally recruited our kicker and stole him from us. That’s a fact.
“We act like it’s not – we live in this la la world like, hey, let’s not talk reality. I don’t know why. Everybody knows what’s going on. So, yeah, Alabama stole our kicker. A couple of other schools tried to steal him.”
DeBoer had a previously scheduled press conference shortly after the comments from Martin surfaced. While he had not heard the accusations himself, he denied it, claiming that Alabama “did everything that we’re supposed to” with regards to Nicholson’s commitment.
“I don’t know anything about that, I guess, that comment. Yeah, he entered the portal and we reached out to him. So that’s how it goes right? We did everything that we’re supposed to,” said DeBoer.
Nicholson was the top kicker in the country last season, making all but one of his field goal attempts on the season.
[SI.com]
