July 05, 2015
We interrupt your regularly scheduled programming to provide an update on a guy who has the opportunity to take the college ranks by storm this winter: Villanova point guard Jalen Brunson.
Well, that’s actually incoming Villanova point guard Jalen Brunson. We’ve already written about the McDonald’s All-American a little bit, but over the holiday weekend, the 18-year-old floor general was inspiring tweets like this:
Villanova's Jay Wright just did a backflip into his pool at his Fourth of July barbecue. Why? Jalen Brunson.
— Fran Fraschilla (@franfraschilla) July 4, 2015
Jalen Brunson plays just like his dad..bodes well!!
— Dan Dakich (@dandakich) July 4, 2015
Nova-bound Jalen Brunson is the kind of PG who'll fool people into thinking he's a Sr. as a Frosh. Got that VanVleet old-man game. #FIBAU19
— Luke Winn (@lukewinn) July 1, 2015
Was Brunson starring in an all-star game or offseason workouts? Nope, this was a much higher stage. As the team’s starting point guard and minutes leader, Brunson helped lead the United States to the gold medal at the FIBA U19 World Championship in Greece. After the game ended, he was voted the tournament’s most valuable player.
Heading into the title game, Brunson was averaging 14 points, 5 assists, and 3 rebounds per game on 56 percent shooting from the field and 45 percent shooting from three-point range. Brunson, who played his high school ball just outside of Chicago, went off for 30 points in a semifinal win over Greece.
MVP of the FIBA U19 World Championship is Jalen Brunson of @usabasketball. Heading to Villanova this fall. No arguments whatsoever. #fibau19
— Jonathan Givony (@DraftExpress) July 5, 2015
As is often the case in title games, the Americans were pushed to the brink by an underdog opponent that was playing with house money. In this case, it was Croatia, who was playing without top prospect Dragan Bender due to a very American sneaker dispute. With the Sixers’ own Dario Saric and also Mario Hezonja already in the fold, the future seems bright for Croatian basketball if they can coordinate their shoes.
Against an extremely admirable opponent, Brunson was able to lead a young group of Americans (including ridiculously promising high school seniors like Harry Giles, Jayson Tatum, and Josh Jackson) to a 79-71 victory in overtime. Just for kicks, here is how the All-Tournament Team looked the last time the competition was held in 2013:
Aaron Gordon (MVP), Jahlil Okafor, Dario Saric, Vasilije Micic, Dante Exum
Fast forward to today, and the Sixers own the rights to three of those players while the other two were the fourth and fifth picks of the 2014 NBA Draft, respectively. What that means for Brunson moving forward, I’m not exactly sure.
What it means for Villanova hoops, though, is that the good times should keep rolling this season.
Follow Rich on Twitter: @rich_hofmann
