Jalen Brunson
Brunson in the 2014 IHSA Class 4A consolation game | |||||||||||||||
Personal information | |||||||||||||||
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Born | New Brunswick, New Jersey | August 31, 1996||||||||||||||
Nationality | American | ||||||||||||||
Listed height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | ||||||||||||||
Listed weight | 190 lb (86 kg) | ||||||||||||||
Career information | |||||||||||||||
High school | Stevenson (Lincolnshire, Illinois) | ||||||||||||||
College | Villanova (Committed) | ||||||||||||||
Position | Point guard | ||||||||||||||
Number | 15 | ||||||||||||||
Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||||
Stats at NBA.com | |||||||||||||||
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com | |||||||||||||||
Medals
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Jalen Brunson (born August 31, 1996) is an American basketball player who is ranked among the top point guards in the national class of 2015 by Rivals.com, Scout.com and ESPN. He will be playing his senior season for Stevenson High School in the 2014–15 academic year and has committed to play for the Villanova Wildcats men's basketball where he will be a freshman for the 2015–16 team. According to ESPN, he ended his junior year of high school as the number one point guard in the country and prior to his senior year he was rated number one by Scout.com. He is the son of 9-year National Basketball Association (NBA) veteran Rick Brunson. Jalen Brunson holds the Illinois High School Association (IHSA) playoff single-game scoring record and set the USA Basketball single-game assist record for the FIBA Americas Under-18 Championships. He was selected as the 2014 Illinois Boys Basketball Gatorade Player of the Year.
Early life
Born in New Brunswick, New Jersey, Brunson was raised in southern New Jersey until sixth grade. He is the son of Rick and Sandra Brunson.[1] He has a sister Erica (born c. 2000/01).[2] His parents met at Temple University where Rick played for the Owls men's basketball team and Sandra played volleyball.[1] Rick went on to spend nine seasons in the NBA.[2] The family first settled in Cherry Hill, New Jersey but moved seven times before settling in Lincolnshire, Illinois in 2010 where Jalen played his high school career for Stevenson High School.[1]
As a freshman, Brunson was an All-Lake County honorable mention selection in 2012,[3] as Stevenson finished the season with a 17–11 record.[4] During his sophomore season, Stevenson started the season 10–4 before going on a 19 game winning streak.[5] That year, Brunson led Stevenson to the March 16, 2013 IHSA Class 4A championship game against Jabari Parker and Kendrick Nunn's three-time defending state champion Simeon Career Academy, where he got the Simeon backcourt in foul trouble in the first half before being held to 1 point in the second half of a 58–40 loss. Stevenson finished the season 29–5.[6] Following the season, Associated Press named him to the Class 4A All-state second team as the only sophomore on the 1st or 2nd team.[7] Brunson averaged 21.5 points that season.[8]
On February 21, 2014, junior Brunson scored 57 points in a double overtime victory over Lake Forest High School. The performance gave him both the school single-game and career scoring records.[9][10] On March 21, Brunson set the IHSA playoff single game scoring record against the Jahlil Okafor-led Whitney Young High School by scoring 56 points in a 75–68 state playoff semifinal loss.[11] In the game, still images of a movement by Brunson appeared to be an obscene gesture, but video of the gesture were deemed to be inconclusive and an initial suspension for the subsequent consolation game was overturned.[12][13] Brunson averaged 26.1 points, 5.4 rebounds, 4.7 assists and 2.9 steals for a Stevenson team that finished the season with a 32–2 record.[14][8] Two members of his high school team were National Football League athletes' offspring: Matt Morrissey and Cameron Green.[9] Brunson was named Gatorade Player of the Year for the state of Illinois as a junior.[15] Following the season, Associated Press named him as the only non-senior on the Class 4A All-state first team that also included Okafor, Cliff Alexander, Tyler Ulis and Sean O'Mara.[16] He finished fourth in the 2014 Illinois Mr. Basketball voting.[17] In April 2014, Illinois, Purdue, Kansas and Villanova had in-home visits.[18] On May 3, 2014, he announced the eight schools that he was considering playing college basketball for: UConn, Michigan State, Illinois, Kansas, Purdue, Villanova, Michigan and Temple.[19] That summer he was the number one rated point guard according to ESPN,[1] although the class had a notable shortage of elite pure point guards.[20] On June 25—the day after Jalen won a gold medal at the FIBA Americas Under-18 Championship—Rick Brunson received an offer as an on-bench assistant coach from Temple.[21] The Temple offer fell through when Rick Brunson was arrested on various charges on July 25, and Temple fell out of the running for Jalen's services.[22][23] Brunson participated in the July 9–11 LeBron James Skills Academy.[24] On August 5, he announced official visits to Illinois on August 29–31, Villanova on September 4–6 and then Temple from September 11–13 and on August 9, he announced official visits to Michigan State from September 19–21 and Purdue on September 26–28.[25]
On September 8, Brunson announced that he would be curtailing his recruitment and making his decision between Illinois and Villanova on September 10.[26] On that date, Brunson committed to Villanova.[23][27][28] At the time of his decision, he was ranked as the number one point guard in the national class of 2015 by Scout.com.[22] Stevenson was a preseason top-10 team in the MaxPreps national high school rankings.[29] A lot was expected of Brunson's team after losing to teams led by Parker and Okafor in the IHSA tournament final four in 2013 and 2014 even though no team from Lake County has ever won a state basketball championship.[8]
Scouting report
Brunson, like his father, is a left-handed basketball player.[14] In what is regarded as a weak point guard class, Brunson is the only true point guard that was ranked in the top 25 players at the conclusion of the class of 2015's junior season.[30] In addition to high ratings by the recruiting services, Brunson's peers voted him to be the best passer in high school basketball prior to his senior season.[31] At the time of his September 2014 commitment to Villanova, he was described by ESPN writer Reggie Rankin as "a left-handed, pass-first lead guard that excels at running his team and can also score as needed".[27] ESPN's Paul Biancardi also used the "pass-first point guard" description.[28]
Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date | |
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Jalen Brunson PG |
Lincolnshire, IL | Stevenson (IL) | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | 190 lb (86 kg) | Sep 10, 2014 | |
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:![]() ![]() | ||||||
Overall recruiting rankings: Scout: 16, 1 (PG) Rivals: 15, 5 (G) ESPN: 23, 1 (IL), 3 (PG) | ||||||
Sources:
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International play
On May 5, 2014, USA Basketball announced the 21 athletes (including Brunson) invited to tryout from June 10 to June 19 for the 12-member USA national team for the June 20–24, 2014 FIBA Americas Under-18 Championship.[32] Eventually, 24 players tried out for the team and the roster was cut to 15 on June 12.[33] Brunson made the final 12 man roster that was announced on June 15.[34] In the opening game, Brunson surpassed Stephon Marbury's 12 assists against Brazil in the 1994 FIBA Americas U18 Championship by recording 13 against Uruguay to set a new USA Basketball U18 single-game assist record.[35][36] The United States claimed a gold medal in the tournament.[37] On August 16, 2014, Brunson was named to the Nike Global Challenge USA All-Tournament team along with Steven Zimmerman, D. J. Hogg, Malik Monk, Jaylen Brown and Edrice Adebayo.[38][39] Brunson led the midwest team to a third-place finish in the 8-team tournament.[26]
Notes
- ^ a b c d Breen, Matt (2014-06-21). "Temple, Villanova on Jalen Brunson's list". Philadelphia Inquirer. Philly.com. Retrieved 2014-06-24.
- ^ a b "Jalen Brunson". USA Basketball. 2014-06-15. Retrieved 2014-06-24.
- ^ McGraw, Patricia Babcock (2012-03-08). "Boys basketball all-area team: Lake County". Daily Herald. Retrieved 2014-06-24.
- ^ Pemstein, Bill (2012-03-02). "Boys Basketball: Stevenson finishes season with 17 wins". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 2014-06-24.
- ^ Narang, Bob (2013-03-14). "Boys hoops | 4A state preview: Stevenson's Brunson more than designer genes". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2014-06-24.
- ^ Kane, Colleen (2013-03-16). "4A final: Four certain: Simeon wins 4th straight state title". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2014-06-24.
- ^ "Class 4A AP All-State team". Chicago Sun-Times. Associated Press. 2013-03-14. Retrieved 2014-06-24.
- ^ a b c Helfgot, Mike (2014-11-27). "Boys basketball preview: Goodbye, big men. Hello, point guards". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2014-12-26.
- ^ a b Narang, Bob (2014-03-10). "Tribune/WGN-Ch. 9 Athlete of the Month | Stevenson's Jalen Brunson: Junior (28.9 ppg in February) looking to lead Patriots back to 4A state final". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2014-06-24.
- ^ Harness, Matt (2014-03-27). "Pioneer Press Boys Basketball Player of the Year: Jalen Brunson". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 2014-06-24.
- ^ Helfgot, Mike (2014-03-21). "Stevenson's Brunson gets record, but Young, Okafor get victory". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2014-06-24.
- ^ Helfgot, Mike (2014-03-22). "Stevenson third after Brunson cleared to play by IHSA". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2014-06-24.
- ^ Phillips, Scott (2014-03-22). "IHSA reverses Brunson suspension". Comcast SportsNet Chicago. Retrieved 2014-06-24.
- ^ a b Hunt, Donald (2014-06-23). "Jalen Brunson following father Rick's footsteps". Philadelphia Tribune. Retrieved 2014-06-24.
- ^ "Stevenson's Brunson Gatorade Player of Year". Daily Herald. 2014-03-21. Retrieved 2014-06-24.
- ^ "AP Class 4A/3A boys basketball All-State teams". Chicago Sun-Times. Associated Press. 2014-03-20. Retrieved 2014-06-24.
- ^ Helfgot, Mike (2014-04-05). "Mr. Basketball of Illinois 2014 | Young's Jahlil Okafor". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2014-06-24.
- ^ Piper, Derek (2014-05-05). "Four In-Home Visits For Brunson In April". 247sports.com. Retrieved 2014-06-24.
- ^ Johnson, Raphielle (2014-05-03). "Five-star 2015 point guard Jalen Brunson announces eight finalists". NBC Sports. Retrieved 2014-06-24.
- ^ Borzello, Jeff (2014-05-01). "Jalen Brunson guns for top billing at the point guard spot". CBS Sports. Retrieved 2014-06-24.
- ^ Breen, Matt (2014-06-25). "Source: Rick Brunson set to join Temple staff". Philly.com. Retrieved 2014-06-25.
- ^ a b Kern, Mike (2014-09-11). "Top prospect Brunson commits to Villanova". Philly.com. Retrieved 2014-09-11.
- ^ a b Borzello, Jeff (2014-09-10). "Breakdown: Five-star Jalen Brunson commits to Villanova". CBS Sports. Retrieved 2014-09-12.
- ^ Kaskey-Blomain, Michael (2014-07-09). "Jalen Brunson aims to impress at LeBron James Skills Academy". Philly.com. Retrieved 2014-07-14.
- ^ Payne, Terrence (2014-08-09). "Five-star point guard Jalen Brunson sets all five official visits". NBC Sports. Retrieved 2014-08-13.
- ^ a b Narang, Bob (2014-09-08). "Stevenson's Jalen Brunson to pick between Illinois, Villanova". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2014-09-12.
- ^ a b Rankin, Reggie (2014-09-10). "Jalen Brunson commits to Villanova". ESPN. Retrieved 2014-09-12.
- ^ a b Biancardi, Paul (2014-09-10). "Scout's Take: Top-25 Brunson to Nova". ESPN. Retrieved 2014-09-12.
- ^ Hickman, Jason (2014-11-04). "MaxPreps 2014-15 Preseason Top 25 high school boys basketball rankings". MaxPreps. Retrieved 2014-12-03.
- ^ Dauster, Rob (2014-04-30). "Mixtape of Jalen Brunson, the top PG in Class of 2015 (VIDEO)". NBC Sports. Retrieved 2014-06-24.
- ^ Jordan, Jason (2014-08-18). "Elite hoopers make their picks for AAU awards and superlatives". USA Today. Retrieved 2014-08-20.
- ^ "USA Basketball Announces U18 Training Camp Roster". SLAM Magazine. 2014-05-05. Retrieved 2014-05-16.
- ^ "15 Finalists Selected For 2014 USA Men's U18 National Team". USA Basketball. 2014-06-12. Retrieved 2014-06-13.
- ^ "USA Men's U18 National Team Selected". USA Basketball. 2014-06-15. Retrieved 2014-06-16.
- ^ "2014 USA Basketball Men's U18 National Team Races To Record-Setting 156-58 Opening Victory Over Uruguay". USA Basketball. 2014-06-20. Retrieved 2014-06-24.
- ^ "2014 Uruguay v. USA". FIBA. 2014-06-20. Retrieved 2014-06-24.
- ^ "USA Basketball Men's U18 National Team Claims 2014 FIBA Americas U18 Championship Gold Medal With 113-79 Victory Over Canada". USA Basketball. 2014-06-24. Retrieved 2014-06-25.
- ^ "USA West Defeats USA East in Nike Global Challenge Game". Nike, Inc. 2014-08-18. Retrieved 2014-08-19.
- ^ Kinsky, Alec (2014-08-16). "Nike Global All-Tournament Team: USA". D1Circuit.com. Retrieved 2014-08-19.
External links
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