Heading into Thursday, Alabama already had the No. 1 recruiting class in the SEC.

Nate Oats’ Crimson Tide program wasn’t satisfied with that lofty recruiting ranking, however, as Alabama has just added its latest potential elite playmaker to the roster.

This time last year, Nimari Burnett was preparing for the McDonald’s All-American before enrolling at Texas Tech to play for Chris Beard. Now that Beard has left Texas Tech to coach Texas, Burnett is off to play for Oats’ Crimson Tide basketball program.

Burnett announced his commitment to Alabama on Thursday after previously making the decision to leave Texas Tech citing personal reasons. In his one college season, Burnett played in 12 games and averaged 5.3 points with 1.4 steals per game.

During the 2020 recruiting cycle, Burnett was rated as the No. 6 combo guard in the country out of Chicago. The McDonald’s All-American picked Texas Tech over Alabama, Michigan and Oregon.

Now he’ll raise the talent level of Alabama’s already impressive offseason haul.

As if there was any doubt about it, Alabama’s basketball program is here to stay.