C.J. Hampton to decide Friday: Will Ole Miss commit flip to Alabama?

The prized defensive back prospect will announce what will presumably be his final decision on Friday afternoon.

Currently committed players holding ceremonies to announce which school they are going to commit to is one of the more delightful curiosities of modern college football recruiting. Four-star safety prospect C.J. Hampton, who is committed to Ole Miss, will be hosting such a ceremony on Friday afternoon, during which he will be announcing a decision between the Rebels and the hard-charging Crimson Tide. Most recruiting insiders expect Hampton to declare a switch to Alabama.

I will announce my college decision Friday @ 5:30p.m./ Meridian High Football Facility ALL MEDIA INVITED
— C.J. Hampton (@_Hamp4dEM) December 16, 2013

Hampton pledged to sign with Ole Miss in June of 2012 and has remained committed to the Rebels throughout, but Nick Saban and his recruiting staff never backed off of him, and it appears that those efforts might have paid off. Hampton made his official visit to Alabama on Nov. 22 and unofficially visited Tuscaloosa on Dec. 14. But Saban might have made his biggest impression upon Hampton on Dec. 4, when the legendary head coach arrived at Hampton's high school football practice via helicopter, after which Hampton gushed about him to 247Sports.

He knows DBs and knows what it takes to play there. He sees me coming in and filling in the spot that Ha Ha [Clinton-Dix] is leaving from. I think he's real excited about that. He's fired up about me as a player, but is just as fired up about me as a person. We've talked for hours every time we talk. Every time we get on the phone, it seems like we talk forever.

At 6:30 p.m. ET on Friday, Hampton is expected to announce what will probably be his final decision about where he will be going to school and playing football. It would seem to defy logic that Hampton would bother to hold a press conference to let everyone know that he is still committed to Ole Miss, but crazier things have certainly happened in college football recruiting.