At a University where one could easily be overshadowed by the football program, Avery Johnson and staff have built momentum in just over three years on the job in Tuscaloosa.

Heading into his fourth season as head coach, Johnson has put together a 57-46 record at the Capstone, improving in each of his three seasons, including a trip to the second round of the NCAA Tournament this past March.

Momentum can be seen on the recruiting trail as well as Alabama has gone head-to-head with college blue bloods to land top recruits like former 5-star point guard Collin Sexton and 4-star guard John Petty in the 2017 cycle. Johnson and staff beat out Kansas for a commitment from from 5-star guard Terrance Ferguson back in 2015 before ever even coaching a game at Coleman Coliseum. Ferguson went on to never play college basketball after decommitting from the Tide and opting to play in Europe.

Most recently, the Tide landed former 247Sports 5-star point guard Kira Lewis over programs like Indiana and Kansas. The Meridianville (Ala.) Hazel Green product reclassified to join the Tide’s 2018 class and be eligible to play this fall.

Johnson’s tenure as both a player and coach in the NBA, has resonated with recruits and has become a big selling point of the Alabama program. It’s not just the soon-to-be fourth year head coach that’s landing top tier targets, though. Johnson’s three-man staff of Antoine Pettway, John Pelphrey and Yasir Rosemond have paid dividends on the recruiting trail.

"It felt like home. Coach Avery, Coach Pettway, Coach Ya, they all made me comfortable,” Alabama commit Juwan Gary said earlier this summer of why he chose the Crimson Tide.

Soon to be Tide enrollee Kira Lewis’ mother, Natasha, also doted on the staff as a whole.

“I think they have a great program,” she said. “Coach Avery’s done a wonderful job there. Antoine Pettway, John Pelphrey, Yasir Rosemond, they’ve done a wonderful job thus far. I think they have a great program.

"Antoine Pettway is like a brother to me. You will never meet a more genuine, kind and hilarious person."

Alabama has finished No. 73 (2015), No. 50 (’16), No. 8 (’17) and No. 24 (’18) in the 247Sports Composite Team Recruiting Rankings. While the staff as a whole contributing in the recruiting efforts, it’s ace recruiter Antoine Pettway that has made much of the noise on the recruiting trail leading the charge for both of the Tide’s commitments for 2019 in Juwan Gary and Jaylen Forbes as well as heading up the recruitment of Kira Lewis.

“When it comes to basketball, I love people with energy,” Jaylen Forbes said. “It’s what I feed off of. Coach Pettway’s energy is always through the roof. I can always be myself around him. I think he’s a great coach. I know when I get there he will help me become a more developed player than I am now.”

Pettway, the Tide’s longest-tenured assistant dating back to the Mark Gottfried era, has a unique perspective as an Alabama assistant considering he grew up in the state, played at the Capstone and is now a coach for the program.

BamaOnLine Publisher Tim Watts has followed Pettway since his high school playing days at Keith and Wilcox Central.

“I watched Antoine Pettway as a player in high school and of course at Alabama. He’s always been a likeable guy and a leader. So it doesn’t surprise me he does well on the recruiting trail,” Watts said. “I’ve talked to other coaches in college basketball about him and they all talk about how hard of a worker he is. Again, that isn’t surprising when you consider what you saw of him as a teenager through his career at Alabama as a player. You can tell he’s hungry to do his best.

“The one common theme with players, coaches, parents and really anyone you talk about with Pettway is he’s just a real guy down to earth guy, very genuine and easy to talk to. Recruiting is about relationships and he does a tremendous job building them.”

“Real” is what Kira Lewis referred to when talking to BamaOnLine about his relationship with Pettway, which was a critical factor in choosing the Tide.

“He just keeps it real and that’s big,” Lewis said. “He supported me through everything and tells me things that I can work on to help me get better.”

247Sports college basketball national analyst Evan Daniels has also taken notice of what Pettway has been able to accomplish on the recruiting trail.

“I think Antoine Pettway has done a tremendous job and is building a reputation as a very strong recruiter, especially in Alabama, but also in the South,” Daniels said. “He’s prepared, is active in his pursuit and seems to key in on the right guys.”

With Alabama returning a strong nucleus of players to go along with former Texas transfer Tevin Mack becoming eligible and Kira Lewis joining the fold one year earlier than expected, look for the program to continue its rise this upcoming season.