Alabama Basketball: How does Jaylen Forbes affect future Crimson Tide recruiting?

Jaylen Forbes became the second four-star recruit to commit to the Alabama Crimson Tide for the 2019-20 season.

Jaylen Forbes is traversing borders on behalf of Avery Johnson.

The four-star guard from Mississippi took to Twitter to announce his decision to play for Alabama beginning in the 2019-20 season.

Other suitors for his services including the Kansas State Wildcats, UAB Blazers, and Murray State Racers.

Ultimately, however, he decided his future would be best by playing under the former NBA player and coach in Tuscaloosa; Alabama offered him a scholarship back in June.

Forbes brings an elite shooting and scoring ability to the Crimson Tide. BamaOnLine relays that the shooting guard averaged 19.4 points per game on the Nike EYBL circuit during his junior year.

247 Sports lists the 6-foot-5, 190-pounds guard as their second-ranked prospect out of Mississippi in the Class of 2019, only trailing recent Kentucky decommit D.J. Jeffries.

He also ranks among the top 20 shooting guards in the class and top 100 players in the class overall.

Forbes has company in the Top 100 with another Alabama commit: small forward

Juwan Gary

, who committed to the Crimson Tide back in July.

Beyond the talent Forbes and Gary bring to Alabama, the big takeaway from this commitment is the recruiting acumen being developed by Johnson. While it’s very early, Alabama currently has one of the top ten classes in the entire nation, according to 247 Sports.

Last year, they just missed out on cracking the Top 50.

They might not be done yet for 2019 either, with offers out for several players, including power forward Trendon Watford; the Birmingham native is considered one of the top 15 players in the Class of 2019.

Since taking over as head coach in 2015, Johnson has led Alabama to a Top 50 recruiting class in two of his four years, coming awfully close in a third. That includes 2017, when Collin Sexton and John Petty gave the Crimson Tide one of the top ten classes in the country.

Johnson’s recruiting tactics have Alabama headed in the right direction; Jaylen Forbes’ commitment is further proof of that.