Alabama basketball lands Dorman senior, four-star recruit Noah Clowney

ROEBUCK – One of the top basketball recruits in the state has made his decision.

Dorman senior Noah Clowney, a consensus four-star recruit and the top boys basketball recruit in South Carolina according to 247Sports.com, is heading to Tuscaloosa to play for Alabama. The senior announced his decision Monday afternoon at Dorman High School.

The 6-foot-9, 205 pound power forward chose the Crimson Tide over Indiana, Virginia Tech and Florida.

"They play style there (at Alabama), I feel like, is what's going to get me to that next level," Clowney told the Spartanburg Herald-Journal. "A lot of people just think its guard oriented but I feel like in that offense ... I will have a big role. So really the play style and the place (campus) was amazing."

The three other schools were part of his top four that was announced on Twitter in August. But Alabama head coach Nate Oats made a late push after Clowney took an official visit to the school earlier this fall – ultimately winning over Clowney.

"It's been a hard journey, it's just a good moment," Clowney's father, Larry Byrd, said Monday. "We just want him to live out his dream, we got behind him to make sure he (reaches) his dream ... it's just exciting man."

Dorman High School went 21-5 last season en-route to the state championship where they lost to River Bluff, 57-45, at River Bluff in the Class AAAAA state title game. Clowney was a key player on the team as a junior and averaged 9.6 points, 7.9 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game in 26 games while playing 22 minutes a contest.

"I'm super excited and happy for Noah," Dorman head coach Thomas Ryan told the Herald-Journal. "He's worked extremely hard, to see where he's come from his sophomore year as a backup to now his senior year and being one of our team leaders ... we have high expectations for this season and Noah's going to be an important piece of that."

More hoops: Dorman boys basketball falls to River Bluff in AAAAA title game

More: Foster's buzzer-beater sends Dorman to fifth straight title game in Class AAAAA Tournament

This season his development as an outside shooter combined with his length and defensive upside contributed to a lengthy and competitive recruiting process. Many thought that Indiana was his top choice until several weeks prior to his signing event on Monday afternoon.

Alabama also beat out former Wofford head coach Mike Young and Virginia Tech. The Hokies made the top four in August and we’re a front runner due to Young’s local connection to the Spartanburg area. The now ACC head coach was at Wofford from 2002-2019.

"It feels great to have it done," Clowney said. "The past two weeks, I'd make a decision then be like, 'well, I don't know about that no more,' and make a new decision. I was going back and forth about it but I'm finally content with my decision. This is where I want to go, this is where I want to play at.

"I think I made the best decision. It's great to be done so I can focus on winning a state title now."

Clowney joins a talented recruiting class for the year of 2022 that already has a commitment from five star recruit Jaden Bradley. Bradley is the No. 18 recruit in the country according to 247Sports.com and No. 8 in the ESPN Top 100 recruits for the class of 2022.

Alabama is set to have one of its best recruiting classes, after the addition of Dorman’s star senior, in program history. The Crimson Tide had the No. 4 class in the SEC in 2021 and currently have the No. 8 class in the conference prior to Clowney’s announcement.

Alabama is also targeting five star basketball recruits Brandon Miller, Jarace Walker and four star Rylan Griffen from Texas.

Jalen Breazeale led Dorman in scoring last season with 16.1 points per game and now plays at USC-Upstate. Clowney’s teammate and fellow senior Jordyn Surratt announced his commitment earlier this fall to USC-Upstate as well. Clowney is the second basketball player from Dorman in recent years to commit to a major Division I program – his former teammate Myles Tate is a sophomore at Butler in Indianapolis, Indiana.

"It's great to see it. Just the other day I broke down, I was crying ... like, 'I'm really doing this', like, two years ago I came here I was playing behind PJ (Hall)," Clowney said Monday. "I got bullied everyday in practice ... it brought some part of a dog out of me. Then ever year I worked on skill development, got better at trusting the process ... It's real good to see (it all come together)."

Dorman's season will begin on Nov. 22 at the Thanksgiving Tournament at Eastside High School.

You can contact Joe Dandron at jdandron@shj.com. Follow him on Twitter: @JoeMDandron.

This article originally appeared on Herald-Journal: Alabama basketball lands Dorman senior Noah Clowney