Former Alabama point guard and Wenonah standout Justin Coleman is coming home.

Coleman committed to Samford head coach Scott Padgett earlier Wednesday and posted his intentions on his Instagram and Twitter pages. Coleman graduated from Wenonah in 2014.

"I want to come back to my city and give back to the city that helped me reach my potential to where I am today," Coleman told AL.com. "I wanted to make a decision and come back and do something from my city.

Justin Coleman announces he's transferring to Samford

The 5-foot-10 Coleman averaged 7.8 points per game for Alabama as a sophomore, but announced his intentions to transfer after the season.

He scored a career-high 24 against Oregon, an eventual No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. He also scored 21 against LSU in a road win.

This could be the biggest recruit Samford has ever gotten in terms of high school rankings. Coleman was a four-star recruit at Wenonah, ranked as the No. 45 overall player and No. 1 in-state recruit in the class of 2014.

Coleman was in contact immediately with Samford coaches after he received his release from Alabama. He said he also considered Georgia State, Northern Kentucky, Murray State and "a couple of other schools." He also took official visits to Georgia State and Northern Kentucky.

"I love the coaches at Samford," Coleman said. "They're down to earth and real cool. They've been honest with me from the time I said I was going to transfer until now. They're dedicated to me and they want to get in the gym as much as I want to get in the gym."

Coleman said he'd rather keep the reason why he left Alabama between himself and the Crimson Tide coaches. But he'll fit in nicely with the fast-paced system that Padgett runs at Samford.

"I fit perfectly in their offense," Coleman said. "They press and they're an up-style tempo team. They get out there. I'm looking forward to learning the system and getting better every day."

Coleman must sit out the 2016-17 season due to NCAA transfer regulations, but will be a redshirt junior in 2017. The Bulldogs will get two players who sat out this season in transfer forward Alex Thompson (Auburn) and guard Demetrius Dyson (UMass).

"First off, I'm going to use it to help out my teammates," Coleman said. "I'm going to have to be on scout team a lot this year so I'm going to try to better my teammates every day. I learned from one of the best point guards to ever play the game in (Alabama head coach) Avery Johnson so I'm going to prepare mentally and physically for the following year."

Samford lost four seniors to graduation but return its second, third and fourth leading scorers in guard Christen Cunningham (14.4 ppg), forward Wyatt Walker (10.6 ppg) and forward Matt Rose (9.0 ppg). The Bulldogs are coming off a 14-19 season.

The Bulldogs also signed Alabama prep standouts Triston Chambers (Cold Springs) and Justin Hopkins (J.O. Johnson) last fall.

Coleman said he will sign with Samford later this week.