Credit: Scout.com

After decommitting from Alabama, highly touted junior-college cornerback Jhavonte Dean committed to play for the Miami Hurricanes on Tuesday.

Dean announced his decision on Twitter:

According to Scout, the Homestead, Florida, native is a 4-star prospect who ranks as the nation's No. 20 JUCO recruit.

Dean played at Blinn College in Brenham, Texas, in 2016 where he registered 23 tackles and five pass breakups in nine games, per the school's athletics website.

Drew Champlin of AL.com noted Dean originally signed to play at Cincinnati, but he was forced to attend junior college in order to improve his grades.

Aside from Alabama and Florida, Scout listed Miami (FL), Arizona State and Utah as the schools that exhibited the most interest in Dean.

He boasts ideal size at 6'1" and 180 pounds, and the fact he has already gotten a taste of college football makes Dean a highly attractive candidate to step in and start immediately.

In addition to his defensive duties, Dean has experience as a return man, which could lead to early playing time as well.

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Dean has had a long and winding road to get to this point, but now that he has committed to play for the Hurricanes, he will finally have an opportunity to live up to the limitless potential he has flashed.

Decommitting from Alabama in favor of Miami is a risk since the Crimson Tide routinely churn out big-time NFL prospects on defense, but he may now have a better opportunity to get playing time right away.

Miami is coming off a strong 9-4 season in its first campaign under head coach Mark Richt, and if his tenure at Georgia is any indication, he is on track to build the Hurricanes into a recruiting power.

Richt's defense ranked 12th in the nation last season in points allowed, and if Dean is as good as advertised, then it stands to reason Miami could creep even closer to an elite level on the defensive side of the ball.