Georgia Tech commit Jalen Forrest headed to junior college first

Former Presbyterian guard Jalen Forrest committed to Georgia Tech on May 2, 2023. (Tim Cowie)

Credit: Tim Cowie/Tim Cowie Photography

Credit: Tim Cowie/Tim Cowie Photography

Former Presbyterian guard Jalen Forrest committed to Georgia Tech on May 2, 2023. (Tim Cowie)

Jalen Forrest, a Presbyterian transfer and the son of Georgia Tech Hall of Famer James Forrest, now plans to attend South Plains College in Texas this fall and then enroll at Tech in 2024 for the spring semester, James Forrest confirmed with the AJC on Friday.

Jalen Forrest announced in May his plan to transfer to Tech and play for first-year coach Damon Stoudamire. A 6-foot-4, 230-pound freshman guard, Forrest led Presbyterian in scoring in 2022-23 at 11.3 points per game while mostly coming off the bench for the Blue Hose.

Named to the Big South All-Freshman team, Forrest was part of the Greenforest-McCalep Christian Class 1A private school state championship as a prep senior and was twice an all-state selection.

James Forrest was inducted into the Georgia Tech Hall of Fame in 2021. He scored 1,978 points during his Tech career and averaged 7.4 rebounds from 1991-95.

Tech now has eight newcomers on the current roster, with six incoming transfers and two freshmen. Six players returned from the 2022-23 season, including two walk-ons.

“Right now, we’re moving slow. I’m teaching. I don’t have everybody on campus yet, and I still have a couple scholarships (to give),” Stoudamire told the “Bossman Show” on July 14. “The biggest thing is I’m just teaching right now, getting them to understand what we’re going to do, what it’s going to look like, the terminology, conceptually what we’re going to do on both ends of the floor.”