Ely guard Forrest commits to FAU

When Michael Forrest was interviewed by the Sun Sentinel as the Broward County large schools Player of the Year, he didn’t know where he’d be playing college basketball, but he did know he wanted to dedicate that announcement to his grandmother, Lorna.

On Thursday, it was Lorna’s birthday, and the Blanche Ely senior guard announced a commitment to a school just 12 miles up Interstate-95 in FAU.

“I would like to thank my grandma for instilling in me the value of life and working hard to achieve my goals. HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDMA,” Forrest wrote on Twitter. “With that being said, I am pleased to announce that I will be continuing my athletic and academic career at Florida Atlantic University. GO OWLS.”

Forrest attributes his success to motivation provided from his grandmother.

“She’s the one that’s always pushed me to be better,” he said after being named Player of the Year. “She said she would rather have me set a high bar and almost make it than set it low and get [there].”

In his commitment tweet, Forrest also thanked God, his coaches and his parents.

He capped off his high school career this season by leading the Tigers to their fifth state title in seven seasons after they went down in regionals last year.

Forrest increased his scoring average by 12 points per game as a senior, averaging 26 to go with 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals per game. He was also a first-team AllCounty selection as a junior.

New men’s basketball coach Dusty May, who was just hired by FAU last month, said previously that recruiting nearby was a high priority.

Home is the highest priority,” Day said. “We will recruit nationally. We will recruit junior-college. We will recruit prep schools but home is the highest priority. We want to put a fence around Florida, especially in the South Florida area.”