Keon Sabb (born September 18, 2002) is an American football safety for the Alabama Crimson Tide. He previously played for the Michigan Wolverines, winning a national championship in 2023.
| Alabama Crimson Tide – No. 3 | |
|---|---|
| Position | Safety |
| Class |  Sophomore |
| Personal information | |
| Born: | September 18, 2002 Glassboro, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) |
| Weight | 200 lb (91 kg) |
| Career history | |
| College | |
| Bowl games | |
| High school | IMG Academy |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
Early life and high school
editSabb was born and raised in Glassboro, New Jersey.[1] He initially attended Glassboro High School before transferring to nearby Williamstown High School for his junior year then finishing at IMG Academy for his senior season.[2] In Sabb's freshman season, he totaled 46 tackles, seven pass deflections, and six interceptions.[3] In his sophomore season, Sabb defensively had 31 tackles and five interceptions. Offensively he had 29 receptions for 376 yards, and six touchdowns, while also throwing a touchdown pass.[4] In Sabb's junior season, he played both ways making 19 catches for 358 yards and three touchdowns, while also notching 19 tackles.[5] Coming out of high school, Sabb was rated as a four-star recruit and held offers from schools such as Georgia, Clemson, Texas A&M, Penn State, Alabama, LSU, Ohio State, Ole Miss, Oklahoma, Oregon, and Michigan.[6] Sabb initially decided to commit to play college football for the Clemson Tigers.[7][8] However on December 6, 2021, he decided to de-commit from the Tigers and flip his commitment to play for the Michigan Wolverines.[9][10][11][12]
College career
editMichigan
editIn 2022, Sabb enrolled at the University of Michigan, and in his first season he appeared in four games, but did not record any statistics.[13]
As a sophomore in 2023, Sabb started five games for the Wolverines. Including his first career start week one versus East Carolina, and a start in the National Championship Game. In total, Sabb recorded 28 tackles, a shared sack and two interceptions, returning one for a touchdown. [14][15]
After starting in five of 29 games in his first two seasons behind Rod Moore and Makari Paige, Sabb entered the NCAA transfer portal after both Moore and Paige returned to Michigan for their senior seasons in 2024.[16]
Alabama
editOn February 19, 2024, Sabb transferred to Alabama, becoming one of the first recruits to join the football program following retirement of Nick Saban and hiring of Kalen DeBoer.[17] He played both Alabama and DeBoer in the 2023–24 College Football Playoff, the Crimson Tide in the 2024 Rose Bowl, and DeBoer as head coach at Washington in the national championship.
References
edit- ^ Emmons, Kevin (July 17, 2021). "Keon Sabb commits to Clemson, continues rich tradition of football in Glassboro". D2sportsnetwork. Retrieved September 3, 2024.
- ^ Bernstein, Jason. "National Signing Day, 2021: N.J. native Keon Sabb makes B1G decision, commits to Michigan". NJ.com. Archived from the original on December 16, 2021. Retrieved January 7, 2024.
- ^ Evans, Bill. "Meet Keon Sabb, Glassboro's next great athlete". NJ.com. Archived from the original on January 8, 2024. Retrieved January 7, 2024.
- ^ Minnick, Kevin. "A three-sport athlete on the rise, Sabb transfers to Williamstown". NJ.com. Archived from the original on December 7, 2021. Retrieved January 7, 2024.
- ^ Friedman, Josh. "Glassboro native Keon Sabb commits to play football at Clemson". Courier Post Online. Archived from the original on January 8, 2024. Retrieved January 7, 2024.
- ^ Cohen, Michael. "Michigan football flips DB Keon Sabb (Clemson) and WR Amorion Walker (Notre Dame)". Detroit Free Press. Archived from the original on January 6, 2024. Retrieved January 7, 2024.
- ^ Raynor, Grace. "Clemson football recruiting: 4-star commit Keon Sabb talks trip to Michigan, call from Brent Venables". The Athletic. Archived from the original on January 30, 2023. Retrieved January 7, 2024.
- ^ Priester, JP. "Elite 2022 ATH Keon Sabb Commits to Clemson". Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on July 7, 2022. Retrieved January 7, 2024.
- ^ Cubit, Alexis. "Clemson football recruiting. Keon Sabb of IMG decommits". The State. Archived from the original on December 7, 2021. Retrieved January 7, 2024.
- ^ Zuke, Ryan. "Michigan target Keon Sabb, a top-100 recruit, decommits from Clemson". MLive.com. Archived from the original on May 30, 2023. Retrieved January 7, 2024.
- ^ Verghese, Tim. "BREAKING: Four-star safety Keon Sabb commits to Michigan". On3.com. Archived from the original on January 8, 2024. Retrieved January 7, 2024.
- ^ Breiler, Christopher. "Michigan Lands Commitment From Elite Safety Prospect". Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on December 15, 2021. Retrieved January 7, 2024.
- ^ "Keon Sabb 2022 Game Logs". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on January 8, 2024. Retrieved January 7, 2024.
- ^ Earegood, Connor. "Michigan safety Keon Sabb grows from first career start". The Michigan Daily. Archived from the original on September 24, 2023. Retrieved January 7, 2024.
- ^ "Keon Sabb". University of Michigan.
- ^ "Likely Starter Keon Sabb Hits The Transfer Portal". Sports Illustrated (Wolverines Digest).
- ^ "Michigan safety Keon Sabb transferring to Alabama football". Tuscaloosa News. February 19, 2024.