JALEN BRUNSON SCOUTING REPORT

Position: Point Guard

Height: 6’2”

Weight: 200 lbs.

Wingspan: 6’4”

Vertical Leap: 37”

Jalen Brunson is one of the most accomplished point guards that the Villanova Wildcats and the Big East Conference has ever produced. At ‘Nova, Brunson won two National Championships, took home various hardware including Big East Freshman and Player of the Year Awards, and was part of one of the greatest runs in conference history for the Wildcats program.

Now, though, Brunson is on to the NBA. On Thursday night, the expectation is that the Lincolnshire, Illinois native will hear his name called during the NBA Draft. When and where are the only questions that are yet to be answered.

Here’s the lowdown on the highly touted and much accomplished point guard.

PLUSSES

An easy strength to list for Brunson is his offensive prowess. In his three years at Villanova, he displayed an ability to shoot and score at each level. He was tremendous inside and out, finishing his career with a 40.8 percent mark from 3-point land this past season. In his career, Brunson is a 51.0 percent shooter, with marks of 58.7 percent inside and 39.3 percent outside.

He was also a terrific distributor of the basketball. He averaged a career-best 4.6 assists per game in the 2017-18 season. Brunson was a tremendous playmaker in the high-octane Villanova basketball and was the cog practically from the word “go” while playing alongside Ryan Arcidiacono his freshman season.

Intangible-wise, you can’t go wrong with Jalen. He showed an ability to lead early and often, especially as the years went on in his career. Brunson showcased everything that you could want out of a player. I’ll keep it cool on the amount of cliches here, but many ring true when it comes to the Wildcats floor general.

MINUSES

It’s true that Jalen was part of a Villanova program that typically excelled on defense. However, his measurables indicate he might run into trouble in the Association.

At 6-foot-2, he’s already pretty undersized. And with a wingspan of just 6-foot-4, he may be limited in terms of who he can guard up against in the league. There’s no questioning his effort as a defender, obviously. It just might be how it is for him and he could be in trouble if he has to switch up on skilled guards or wings who are taller and quicker than him. In essence, he might just be a one-trick pony as a defender, in that he will do his best against point guards and point guards only.

Other weaknesses that Brunson may run into revolve mostly around his athleticism and explosiveness.