Remi Ali, otherwise known as 2k Forbes, is taking Montgomery County by storm.

Ali was a high school basketball player trying to achieve his dream of playing college basketball and received an offer from Frostburg State University. He had a great college career but did not continue to pursue basketball after college, instead, he became a videographer to record his favorite players in action.

Ali travels around the county and records players in action during basketball games. His unique style of editing has caught the eye of students throughout the county. Junior Whitman guard Josh Weinberg said, “I really love the cool edits he makes on his videos. He always creates a packed crowd.”

At first, he tried recording big time collegiate basketball players. The videos were well edited but he did not receive much publicity. Ali then decided to go to high schools around the county. His first video was for Richard Montgomery’s big man Miles Gally. The video received close to 6,000 views. Junior Matthew Kopsidas said, “I am constantly refreshing my page and looking for the next 2k Forbes video.”

The one video that boosted him into the local spotlight featured Walter Johnson sophomore guard Phillip Stubin. His amazing edits and great music earned him 21,000 views and over 1,000 comments. The next day, students throughout the county were talking about 2k Forbes. He received a ton of messages from students asking for him to come to their school to film their players. Other teams got videos such as Churchill, Blair and Wheaton.

His videos are creating a positive impact on the county. His videos are filling the seats at basketball games. A lot of students are now coming to games and players hard work pay off. Turnouts for basketball games around the county have been at an all-time high this past season, a big reason being 2k Forbes. Junior Ben Bloch said, “At first I only came to try and find 2k Forbes, but after watching how fun it is to be at a basketball game, I will be coming to a lot more this year.”

His videos are unique. When a player makes a three pointer, he puts a cool text bubble in his video to exaggerate the point. He also has moments where the player is in slow motion to single out that specific play so everyone can see it in action. He also incorporates trending songs. Sophomore Dallas Dean said, “I could sit there for hours watching 2k Forbes cool edits. It makes it much more interesting to watch because I know these players in the videos.”’

Ali has created a county buzz. When a player knows that 2k Forbes is coming to their game, they know that they need to step up their game because they may be recorded. Senior guard Garrett Koch said,” When 2k Forbes comes to our school, I’ll be on my best game.”

Ali announces what games he will be every week on his instagram so that they can get as many fans as possible.