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Alabama Basketball: Avery Johnson’s recruiting success and Jared Butler

By Lukas Harkins

NASHVILLE, TN - MARCH 10: Avery Johnson the head coach of the Alabama Crimson Tide gives instructions to his team in the game against the Ole Miss Rebels during the second round of the SEC Basketball Tournament at Bridgestone Arena on March 10, 2016 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
NASHVILLE, TN - MARCH 10: Avery Johnson the head coach of the Alabama Crimson Tide gives instructions to his team in the game against the Ole Miss Rebels during the second round of the SEC Basketball Tournament at Bridgestone Arena on March 10, 2016 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /
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Alabama basketball is on the rise and it is thanks to their outstanding recruiting. The Crimson Tide just received a commitment from top-100 Jared Butler.

Avery Johnson is starting something special in Tuscaloosa. Since being named the head coach for Alabama basketball in 2015, Johnson has been hot on the recruiting trail. For his 2017 recruiting class, Johnson reeled in the best basketball recruits that the University of Alabama has seen in a while. The football program is certainly capable of bringing in the best and has backed that up with multiple championships, but is the basketball program next?

Alabama’s 2017 recruiting class brought in five recruits (three ranked in the top-100 out of high school) and was ranked as the No. 8 recruiting class in the country. Led by Collin Sexton, the No. 5 recruit in the country, the Crimson Tide has all the talent to make the NCAA Tournament during the 2017-18 season. If they are able to get this done, it would be just their second appearance in the last 11 years.

One recruiting class alone cannot change the future of a program, though. For Johnson to build a more successful basketball program at Alabama, he will need to continuously sign top recruits and be able to coach them to consecutive NCAA Tournament berths.

Following up his 2017 recruiting class, there are two major tests coming up for Coach Johnson. First, he needs to succeed during the 2017-18 season. With solid returning talent along with this talented class coming in, this team should at the very least be in the discussion for an at-large bid this season. If they are able to go dancing in March, then that will be another step in the right direction for Alabama.

In addition to having a successful season that ends in a March Madness appearance, Coach Johnson will also need to follow up his 2017 recruiting class with another strong one in 2018. On Oct. 16, he got off to a great start, snagging top-100 recruit Jared Butler.

Ranked at No. 89 by 247Sports Composite ranking, the 6’2″ Butler chose to attend Alabama over schools such as Baylor and Virginia. As reported by Scout.com, Butler is hoping to learn from Coach Johnson, who led the NCAA in assists in 1997 and 1998 while playing for Southern University:

"“They play a lot of ball screens and one of my best attributes is playing off a ball screen,” Butler said. “Coach Avery was a point guard and he can teach me a lot of things. They like to play fast and I feel like I can play fast in certain situations, but I can slow it down a lot too. That’s going to fit in really well with what they are trying to do.”"

Butler is a very solid start to this recruiting class and if Coach Johnson can create a solid group of guys around him, then Alabama will once again have one of the top classes in the country. Obviously, recruiting is just a part of creating a strong program though.

A team may have elite players, but unless they improve their play over the years both as individuals and as a team, then on-court success cannot follow. Getting recruiting victories are certainly a good start, but getting victories on the court is the most important thing.

If Coach Avery Johnson can start getting his program to consistent NCAA Tournaments as he continues to grow his culture in Tuscaloosa, then we might start to see the general opinion of Alabama basketball start to shift. While the football program has thrived in recent years, the basketball program has struggled. Once the basketball team starts making runs in the Big Dance, then Alabama can be looked at as one of the elite programs in both of the two major collegiate sports.

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