There are some basketball players who have made a name for themselves even before making it to the National Basketball Association. One of such is Jalen Brunson who plays in the NBA for the Dallas Mavericks as a point guard. Before then, he has had a very excellent college career while also playing for the American under-18 and under-19 teams. Here’s all to know about him.
Jalen Brunson Biography
Jalen Brunson was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey on August 31, 1996. He was brought up in southern New Jersey alongside a younger sister Erica Brunson before his family moved to Lincolnshire, Illinois.
Regarding his education, Brunson went to Stevenson High School and after he graduated, he moved on to Villanova University. He had always loved basketball as a child and while he was in high school, he won Illinois Gatorade Player in both 2014 and 2015 when he led the team to the Illinois Class 4A title. His last season for Stevenson ended with him averaging 26.1 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 4.7 assists.
Jalen Brunson played for the United States men’s basketball team at the World Under-19 Cup in 2015 where he helped the team to win the tournament in Greece. He was named the MVP of the tournament as well as the USA Basketball Male Athlete of the Year in 2015.
A year before then, he won the FIBA Americas U18 Championship with the US basketball team. Also in 2014, he made the Nike Global Challenge USA All-Tournament team which had players like Jaylen Brown and Stephen Zimmerman.
College And NBA Career
Rated a five-star player by ESPN, Scout, and Rivals among others, Jalen had many colleges wanting to have him as its player including Temple, Michigan State, Purdue, Illinois, and Villanova but after cutting down the list to Illinois and Villanova, he decided to go for the latter.
Just as everyone had expected, Brunson had a very successful college career where he became the NCAA champion in 2016 and 2018. More so, he got many individual awards and recognition including the Bob Cousy Award and Big East Player of the Year in 2018.
After leading Villanova to the National Championship glory, he decided to enter for the 2018 NBA draft and got selected by the Dallas Mavericks as the 33rd overall pick. He was given a four-year contract with the team, kick-starting his NBA career. If the fact that he was able to lead the Villanova Wildcats to a couple of NCAA titles in 3 years is anything to go by, he has a great future in the NBA.
Dad And Family
Nothing about the success of Jalen can be said without bringing his father into the story. Rick Brunson got his son playing the sport since he was still a little boy and he shaped his path.
The fact that Rick Brunson himself was a basketball player explains a lot of things. He also played in the NBA for 9 seasons for teams including Trail Blazers, Clippers, Celtics, SuperSonics, and Houston Rockets with which he ended his professional career in 2006.
What’s more, after his career as a basketball player ended, Rick transitioned into coaching. Presently working as the assistant coach of Minnesota Timberwolves, he has previously worked for teams such as Charlotte Bobcats, Chicago Bulls, and Denver Nuggets with which he started.
It is not only from his father that Jalen got his athleticism as his mother, Sandra Brunson, was also into sports. She played volleyball at Temple University where she met Rick. The family is now blessed with two kids as stated above, Jalen and his sister, Erica who was born in 2000.
Jalen has a girlfriend, Ali Marks. The two have been together since high school.
Jalen Brunson Height And Weight
On the road to becoming the kind of player he turned out to be, Jalen Brunson has had a lot of things in his favor, including a father who would guide his path and skills in sports. In line with all these, he also has a good height and body build that one needs to succeed as a basketball player.
He stands at a height of 6 feet 2 inches (1.88 m) and has a bodyweight of 190 lb (86 kg). The Point Guard has a 6’4 wingspan and 8.25 hand length. Other aspects of his body measurements have not been provided.
