Jaylen Alexander, a 6’2”, 175-pound point guard out of Oxford, Alabama, flipped his commitment from Belmont to Kansas State on Saturday.
Alexander is the second Belmont commitment to follow in Wildcat head coach Casey Alexander (no relation that I know of) to Manhattan, after Devin Hutcherson defected to The Little Apple last Friday.
Alexander was the jewel of the incoming Belmont class. He was slated to be the Bruins’ highest-rated recruit
in program history, and for good reason. The high-3* recruit was considered a top 5 player and top point guard coming out of the state of Alabama for the 2026 class, and a top 200 player nationally. Before committing to Belmont, he garnered an offer from his home-state, Auburn, as well as mid-major offers from UAB, Murray State, Kennesaw State, New Mexico State, and ETSU (amongst others).
Highlights
Facts
- Named the 2025-26 Max Preps Alabama High School Basketball Player of the Year
- Named the 2025-26 Gatorade Alabama Player of the Year
- Led his Oxford team to a 30-4 record and the first 6A state championship in school history.
- Named the 2025-26 Alabama Class 6A Tournament MVP
- Two-Time Alabama All-State Selction
- Averaged 19 points, 5.5 rebounds, 4.1 assists, and 2.3 steals per game as a senior
- Scored over 2,000 points in his high school career.
Opinions
*Note* – These are based on internet clips. Keep that in mind.
- Good size for a point guard – 6’2” with long arms – skinny now, but you’ve got to assume he’ll fill out in the weight room.
- Doesn’t look like an elite athlete (in terms of high-major college basketball players, I’m sure he’s in the top 1% of the general population), but I liked his crafty finishes around the basket, including a few ball fakes that sent defenders flying (swoon).
- Elite hair game, listed as a 5* prospect in my class of 2026 hair index.
- He’s a team leader and a winning player; you’ll notice that trend in Alexander recruits.
- I’ve been impressed with both Hutcherson and Alexander’s defense. They should be able to come in and guard right away while their offense game adjusts to the college level.
- He’s listed as a point guard, but he could also play off ball with his long-range shooting.
Overall
Look, these types of articles are always going to be filled with clichés. Obviously, I like how Coach Alexander is recruiting. His first two signings look like legit high-major prospects, though I would put both in the “developmental” bucket. Look for this staff to develop players, meaning they have long-term plans for recruits. My best guess is that Jaylen starts his career as a back-end of the rotation role player and then, best-case scenario, moves his way up the depth chart in an orderly manner as his career progresses.
The goal for Kansas State and Casey Alexander should be to “get old and stay old”. That means developing guys on your own roster and not having big gaps between classes. That may take a season or two to pay major dividends, but the portal should keep them from having to be thrown to the Big 12 wolves early in their careers. Players like Hutcherson and Alexander will see the court early, but in a way that doesn’t see their confidence get torpedoed by taking on too much, too soon.
As always, I like the theory behind taking Alexander, but I have no idea how this will work out. I’m interested to see what happens once the transfer portal doors swing open. That will give us a better idea of short-term expectations.
