Alabama Offers Arp Athlete DeMarvion Overshown

You think Alabama would have a lot of success recruiting East Texas, but the truth is local prospects have never really warmed to the idea of moving three states east to play for what is currently college football's premiere program.

That door, however, bent when Bullard tight end Major Tennison committed to the Crimson Tide in the last recruiting cycle. Will the door cave in if Arp athlete DeMarvion Overshown takes up Nick Saban's latest offer?

Overshown (6-4, 196) is the first local player in the 2018 class to receive a scholarship opportunity from Alabama. He reported the news Thursday afternoon directly to ETSN.fm, which came less than a day after UCLA, Oklahoma and Baylor reached out to him.

With the Tide's offer in hand, Overshown broke a tie for second place in sheer NCAA Division I FBS scholarship opportunities among local players with Marshall guard Chasen Hines at 11 opportunities. He is within reach of Carthage running back Keaontay Ingram's 15 invitations.

Arp was one of the final regional teams standing through the 2016 football season. It reached the Class 3A Division II state semifinals after successfully navigating out of a region that included Newton, Crockett and its own district champion -- Elysian Fields.

Overshown recorded 173 tackles as a safety and forced four total takeaways in 15 games. He also caught four passes for 121 yards as a receiver.

Arp may find more uses for the athlete this season. It is forced to turn away from SMU bound athlete Kayce Medlock and a quarterback that started for a season and a half.

Alabama pushed for its 17th official national championship last month and fell in the title game to Clemson in the final seconds. It defeated Clemson the previous season for the 2015 crown.

The Tide have not lost more than two games since the 2010 season, have won three national championships since and won major bowl games in the years they did not qualify for the title game.

Alabama has been the SEC's defending champion since the end of the 2014 season.

Saban has five national championships as a head coach. His second came with the Tide in 2009 and his first was won at LSU in 2003.

Alabama is the top-ranked team in "way-too-early" 2017 polls conducted by CBS Sports, ESPN and Sports Illustrated.

Overshown, like all college football prospects currently in their junior year of high school, will become eligible to sign with any school that offers him in February of 2018.

2018 East Texas Football Players With Division I FBS Offers

• Tre Allison, John Tyler, OLB, 6-0, 200 — committed to SMU; additional offer from Mississippi State (2)
• Chance Amie, Tyler Lee, QB, 6-3, 190 — offers from Bowling Green, Iowa State (2)
• Dekalen Goodson, John Tyler, DE/OLB, 6-0, 215 — offer from Mississippi State (1)
• Chasen Hines, Marshall, C, 6-3, 340 — offers from Baylor, Louisiana Tech, LSU, Minnesota, North Texas, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, TCU, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech (11)
• Keaontay Ingram, Carthage, RB, 6-0, 198 — offers from Arkansas, Baylor, Colorado, Iowa State, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, TCU, Texas, Texas Tech, UCLA (15)
• DeMarvion Overshown, Arp, ATH, 6-4, 196 —offers from Alabama, Arkansas, Baylor, Kansas, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, SMU, Southern Miss, TCU, Texas, UCLA, UTSA (12)