James Rojas made it official Tuesday when he announced on social media that he had signed his letter of intent to continue his academic and basketball career at the University of Alabama.

Before he took to Facebook, however, the 6-foot-8 forward and Jamestown High School graduate had a conversation Monday night with Crimson Tide assistant coach Bryan Hodgson, another city native.

“He and I talked for a few minutes,” said Hodgson, also a JHS graduate. “I said, “I never thought I’d be coaching basketball in the (Southeastern Conference) and I bet you never thought you’d be playing basketball in the SEC.’

“This is something we’ll talk about for years to come. If that doesn’t show kids from Jamestown, New York that anything is possible, I don’t know what does. We’re excited. He’s going to bring something to the table we’re missing, and that’s some toughness and some grit. He’s going to be a mismatch nightmare in this league and we, as a staff, honestly believe he’ll be an impact player in the SEC right away.”

That’s quite an endorsement, considering Alabama’s conference opponents include, among others, Kentucky, Auburn and Tennessee.

“It’s a great day for Jamestown basketball to see one of our players make it to the big time,” said Ben Drake, Rojas’ high school coach. “Playing in the SEC at the competition level he’s going to see it doesn’t get any better.”

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As a high school sophomore, Rojas was a fifth man on a Red Raiders’ team that came within a few buckets of advancing to the New York State Public High School Athletic Association Class AA Final Four for the third time in five seasons.

While showing plenty of promise as a 10th-grader, it wasn’t until Rojas and some of his Jamestown buddies showed up for a team camp at the University at Buffalo in the summer of 2015 that Hodgson, then an assistant coach for the Bulls, took notice, initially at the behest of Drake.

“He thought he had a special player on his hands,” Hodgson said. “He wasn’t sure what level he was, but he really wanted me to evaluate (Rojas) at team camp and give him my feedback.”

Hodgson was immediately impressed. So, too, was Nate Oats, then UB’s head coach, who was named the Crimson Tide’s head coach in late March.

“(Rojas) destroyed one of the Michigan high school teams that had several Division I players that were supposed to be really, really good,” Hodgson added. “He had 30-plus points on them and really showed his versatility, and I think that really opened the coaches’ eyes.”

By the end of his JHS career, Rojas had amassed, 1,190 points; was a third- and fifth-team All-State selection after his junior and senior seasons, respectively; and was a two-time Post-Journal Player of the Year.

Hodgson said he kept tabs on Rojas during his banner high school career during which he showed the ability to play every position on the floor.

“We realized he wasn’t going to qualify academically out of high school, so we kind of set him up with Hutchinson Community College,” Hodgson said. “I knew … he would develop as a player.”

And develop he did, capped by a sophomore season where he earned National Junior College Athletic Association and National Association of Basketball Coaches First Team All-American honors.

“As I watched him develop at Hutch, I was starting to think 100 percent he can play for Buffalo, and that’s when we were top 25 in the country. All of a sudden, I’m thinking that we’re getting a steal and I think he can play anywhere in the country.

“Sure enough, we get this job (at Alabama), he had requested his release (from his UB scholarship). The first thing he said he said after he got his release was if we had a scholarship and he wanted to play for us, and we felt the same way.”

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Rojas joins graduate transfer guard James “Beetle” Bolden (Covington, Kentucky/Holmes HS/West Virginia) and freshman Raymond Hawkins (Oakland, California/Findley [Nev.] Prep) as spring signees. Last fall during the early signing period, the Tide inked a trio of ESPN Top-100 players in forward Juwan Gary (Charlotte, North Carolina/West Charlotte) and guards Jaylen Forbes (Florence, Mississippi/Florence) and Jaden Shackelford (Hesperia, California/Hesperia) who, combined with Rojas, make up the six members of the Tide’s 2019 signing class.

In addition to his two All-America accolades, Rojas collected numerous additional honors during his sophomore season. He was named the 2019 Jayhawk West Conference Player of the Year, as well as a first-team All-Jayhawk West honoree while also being named to the All-Region VI First Team and Region VI All-Tournament team.

“I have learned a lot over these last two years in junior college, most importantly loyalty, work ethic, and the importance of finding the right fit in a coaching staff and style of play,” Rojas said in a Facebook post Tuesday afternoon. “I have found all this and more at Alabama and can’t wait to wear Crimson next year.”

Rojas’ trip to the highest levels of college basketball marks the second former JHS player to do so in the last five years, joining Jaysean Paige, who spent two years in the NJCAA before having a stellar two-year career at West Virginia where he ended up being the Big 12 Conference Sixth Man of the Year as a senior.

Hodgson is confident that Rojas can have similar results in the SEC.

“Social media is going crazy,” Hodgson said. “They’re super excited about him. He’s got a big summer ahead of him. He’s going to work hard when he’s home in Jamestown. If he shows up in shape, has a good summer, we’re going to count on him a lot this year.”