Springfield native Trey DePriest is a part of the linebacking corps at Alabama, which won the BCS national championship last Monday, defeating Notre Dame 42-14.

But before he committed to the Crimson Tide, he took a visit to the Fighting Irish.

In an interview with AL.com, DePriest, who was also heavily recruited by Ohio State, said things didn’t feel right for him in Indiana.

“I went up there and I saw it,” DePriest told the website. “It wasn’t the place for me. I’m not knocking the campus or nothing. I wasn’t feeling it.”

DePriest took the trip at the behest of a Springfield High School assistant coach who was from South Bend. He was met by Manti Te’o, Notre Dame’s award-winning linebacker, who left a big impression.

“He’s a big cat, a big guy,” DePriest said. “He seemed smart. He knew what he was talking about on the field.”

DePriest was impressed that Te’o didn’t try to give him the hard sell.

“He told me to do what was best for me, because that is what he did,” DePriest said.

It was a smart move for DePriest, who had three tackles in the national title game. The sophomore was second on the team in tackles with 59 this season. He also had two pass defenses despite being hobbled with an ankle injury the first month of the season.

And he won his second national title in two years.

Statistical Stephen: Tiera Stephen (Chaminade Julienne) is having a dream season for the Wisconsin women’s basketball team, at least when it comes to the stat sheet.

She’s averaging 6.2 points, but is in the top 10 in the Big Ten in three categories: fifth in assists (5.3), second in steals (3.0) and sixth in rebounds (5.1). She also leads the Badgers in all those categories.

The redshirt senior won a state championship with CJ in 2005 when the Eagles defeated Cincinnati Mount Notre Dame. She also won a national AAU championship with Cincinnati Finest in 2007.

She went on to Louisville, where she was the Cardinals’ starting point guard in the NCAA championship game, before transferring to Wisconsin and sitting out a season.

Hillsdale connection: Chelsea Farrell (Fenwick) is getting her feet wet as a sophomore with the Hillsdale College women’s basketball team. Farrell has played in 10 of Hillsdale’s 12 games, averaging two points and two rebounds. Teammate Megan Fogt (Anna) is leading Hillsdale with 15.9 points per game and 11 rebounds.

Bloomer on board: Nova Southeastern freshman Molly Bloomer (Lakota East) has played in 10 games this season, averaging around 10 minutes and 4.4 points.

Fighting Oilers: Kendra Elam (Fairmont) scored nine points and had three rebounds in Findlay University’s 67-37 women’s basketball win over Ohio Dominican on Jan. 10.

Elam, who has come off the bench in all 13 Oiler games, is averaging 5.9 points per game and 3.1 rebounds. Findlay is 10-2.