High school prospect Jalen Green announced a few weeks ago that he was going to make a decision on his college future on Christmas. However, a report surfaced that he may explore his professional options and skip college but it now appears that was a false alarm.
Green had announced his intentions to play next season at Prolific Prep, but according to Emiliano Carchia of Sportando, he was looking at possibly playing in Italy for Stella Azzurra or taking advantage of the Next Stars initiative in Australia’s National Basketball League.
Now, it appears as though that Green will stay at Prolific Prep. His father, Marcus Green, told Sportando that he never considered playing professionally.
Had Green elected to skip his senior year of high school to play professionally, he would have become the first to do so since Jeremy Tyler did in 2009. Since Green was born in 2002, he would not be eligible to enter the NBA draft until 2021 even if he were to play professionally this season.
In March, Green said he was going to play his last year at Prolific Prep, a prep school in Napa, California. He had played his first three high school seasons at San Joaquin Memorial High School in Fresno, California, where he ended up as the school’s all-time leading scorer.
Armed with a high-level blend of elite leaping ability and quickness to get his shot off, Green is currently ranked as the third prospect in the 247 Sports composite rankings for the high school class of 2020.
Green has won three gold medals with USA Basketball in 2017, 2018 and in 2019. He was named the MVP of the U17 World Cup after leading the USA in scoring during the tournament.
Beyond his international experience with Team USA, Green has Filipino heritage through his mother and has played in the Philippines on multiple occasions. He went back in March of this year and even dunked on the 7-foot-2 Kai Sotto in a high school tournament game.
After starting the first session of EYBL play this year with the Oakland Soldiers, Green played for Team WhyNot, who eventually finished as the runner-up to MoKan Elite at the Peach Jam.
Green had back-to-back 27-point games in the semifinals and finals, with season averages of 18.2 points, 3.9 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.1 steals in 15 games on 50 percent shooting from the field.
At close to 6’5, Green is known for his ability in isolation as a slasher and in the open floor. He is an effortless leaper who needs to work on his decision-making and can be at times a streaky shooter. He will also need to tighten his handle and gain strength moving forward.
Memphis was believed to be the frontrunner for Green if he were to play in college with rumors of him considering trying to gain eligibility for this season. His other finalists are Florida State, Kansas, Kentucky, Oregon and UCLA.
The talent certainly is there for him to be an intriguing pro option for a team looking to take on a project player, though there has yet to be an official announcement from Green on his intentions.
