Jalen Brunson

Jalen Marquis Brunson was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey, to Rick and Sandra Brunson. His parents were both volleyball players at Temple University, and Rick went on to play nine seasons in the NBA. Jalen has a younger sister, Erica. He attended Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire, Illinois, where he was a two-time Illinois Gatorade Player of the Year (2014, 2015) and also was Illinois' Mr. Basketball as a senior in 2015. Brunson averaged 23.3 points, 5.3 assists, 4.7 rebounds and 2.6 steals as a senior. He led Stevenson to the 2015 Illinois High School Association (IHSA) Class 4A state championship. Among his other accolades, Brunson was selected as a McDonald's All-American and invited to the Jordan Brand Classic. He was also named first team All-Illinois by the Associated Press for the third time. In his second season in the NBA, Brunson was nominated by the Dallas Mavericks for the November NBA Cares Community Assist Award for his continuous efforts to support children and families across the North Texas community. Learn more about Brunson by following him on Twitter and on Instagram (@jalenbrunson1). There aren't many players in the NBA that boast two NCAA championships, but Brunson is one. The son of Rick Brunson, an NBA player, was a starter for the Villanova Wildcats' 2016 and 2018 championship teams. As a freshman, he was more of a role player and provided 9.6 points and 2.5 assists while playing next to Ryan Arcidiacono and Josh Hart in the Villanova backcourt. The Illinois native played at least 21 minutes in each game in the 2016 Big Dance but did not score more than 12 points. Brunson took on a bigger role as a sophomore and was only held to single-digit scoring in five games. He averaged 14.7 points and 4.1 assists, and hit 37.8 percent of his three-point attempts. The guard helped the Wildcats wins the Big East tournament with 17 points and five assists in the win over Creighton. The squad was eliminated in the second round of the NCAA Tournament by Wisconsin. Brunson pushed his scoring as a senior and led the Wildcats with 18.9 points and 4.6 assists per contest. He connected on a career-high 40.8 percent of his three-point attempts despite the increased responsibility. Brunson scored a career-high 31 points in three games. He scored in double digits in every game except the National Championship, a game in which Michigan held him to nine points. The Wildcats prevailed and the consensus All-American declared for the 2018 NBA Draft with one year of eligibility remaining.