Alabama basketball target Jasper Johnson, a consensus five-star guard from Lexington, commited to the hometown Kentucky Wildcats on Thursday. Once considered a lean for Nate Oats and the Tide, Johnson ultimately chose to pledge for Mark Pope’s Cats.
Johnson is currently rated as the No. 10 player in the 2025 class, according to the 247 composite. With no current commitments for the Tide in this class, Johnson would have provided a fast spark as Oats looks to build off the momentum of last season’s run to the Final Four.
Fear not though, Tide fans, as Oats and the staff are putting together a special 2025 class, one that could ultimately top a 2024 class that signed four Top-50 players in the composite rankings and finished 2nd nationally behind Duke.
A.J. Dybantsa
Dybantsa, a 6’9 forward from Hurricane, Utah, is the No. 1 overall player in the ’25 recruiting class, according to the 247 composite rankings. He included Alabama in his Top-7 at the beginning of August, and the Crimson Tide will receive a visit from the 5-star on the weekend of September 27-29. He has already taken official visits to Auburn and Kansas State, and will also visit Kansas, North Carolina, Baylor, and BYU.
Dybantsa would be a perfect fit for Nate Oats’ style of offense with his ability to score in a variety of ways. He’s a great spot-up shooter and can get to the rim at will. BYU will get the last visit for the top prospect, and it will be tough to beat out the home-state Cougars for his services, but Oats and company have the opportunity to knock his visit out of the park at the end of this month and potentially land the most coveted high school prospect in America.
Meleek Thomas
Thomas, a 6’4 shooting guard from Atlanta, is a consensus five-star prospect in the 247 composite rankings, and like Dybantsa, he included Alabama in his Top-7 in July. Also like Dybantsa, Thomas will be visiting the Capstone on the weekend of September 27-29, so Oats and company have a shot at pitching the two elite prospects at playing together.
Thomas might be the best pure shooter in the 2025 class, which is obviously something Oats covets. In Alabama’s fast-paced offensive style, Thomas would flourish. One of the best selling points Oats has is how much fun players have in his system because of the freedom and confidence he instills in all of his guys.
Caleb Wilson
Wilson, a 6’9 forward from Atlanta, is another consensus five-star prospect in the 247 composite rankings who is considering playing basketball in Tuscaloosa. Wilson is scheduled to be on an official visit to Tuscaloosa this weekend as the Tide looks to hold off the hometown Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. Arkansas and Kentucky figure to be heavily involved here, too.
Wlson is cut from the Noah Clowney-cloth, though he is much higher-rated than Clowney was in high school. You can bet that Clowney’s development into a first round NBA Draft pick will be a huge part of Oats’ recruiting pitch to Wilson.
Davion Hannah
Hannah, a 6’5 combo guard and consensus Top-30 prospect from Branson, Missouri just took an official visit to Tuscaloosa last weekend and all reports coming out of were extremely positive. Oats and the staff typically hit it out of the park on official visit weekends, and this one seems to have been no exception. Hometown Missouri is probably the biggest competition for Hannah’s services, and he is slated to visit Columbia this weekend.
Hannah is a natural scorer who, despite not having the highest effiency at the high school level, is a guy Oats believes would flourish with better floor spacing and smarter shot attempts.
London Jemison
Jemsion is a 6’7 consensus 4-star forward out of Oakdale, Connecticut. Alabama will be hostin Jemison for an official visit this weekend. He’s already taken official visits to Vanderbilt and Kansas, and in the coming weeks he has visits scheduled for Louisville and Virginia, both of which look to be the Tide’s biggest competition for his services.
Jemison is another stretch-four type that Nate Oats and company loves. He’s a bit on the thin-side currently, but should continue growing into his body.
There’s several others that Oats and the Tide will push for in the coming months. Alabama will see significant roster turnover after the 24-25 season with Mark Sears, Grant Nelson, Latrell Wrightsell, Chris Youngblood, and Clifford Omoruyi exhausting their eligibiltiy. That alone leaves five roster spots open for 25-26, not to mention the possibility of Derrion Reid being a one-and-done, and several others who could bolt for the next level with strong seasons. With such a loaded roster, there’s bound to be a player or two unhappy with their role who could end up in the Transfer Portal, too. Don’t be surprised to see Oats look at landing a five or six-man freshman class, as well as dipping into the portal for top talent, too.
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