re: So the Parks kid, why did he wait until NSD?

That's not the story I read. I read he committed and was told to wait to sign. Minutes before the signing an assistant at Bama called Parks coach and told him there wasn't room.
To throw a wrench into the Bama not having room, they accepted LaByran Ray's LOI after they talked Parks into greyshirting. It's funny how the story yesterday, as it unfolded, looks bad on Saban and Co. Yet, you read them now and Parks sheds this completely different light.