Jalen Brunson is a college basketball legend for a new era

Jalen Brunson is off for the NBA Draft. It makes sense. For one, Brunson is on track to graduate this spring from Villanova with a degree in communications in just three years.

There’s also just not much left for him to accomplish as an amateur player. This is what Brunson has done over the last five years:

You can make the case Brunson is one of the most distinguished college players of the modern era. These are the players who have exited college with two national titles and a player of the year award:

That’s it. But shouts to Tyler Olander and Corey Brewer for coming so close.

A career like Jalen Brunson’s took a perfect storm. It starts with a star recruit who lacked the physicality to be a one-and-done finding with a program known for making its players better over time yet still immediately ready to win a national championship. Three years later, Villanova owns a 103-13 overall record and a pair of banners since Brunson arrived on campus.

This is it for Brunson in college basketball, and what a career it’s been.

Everyone describes Brunson the same way. It goes something like this:

“Honestly, he’s played like a 35-year-old man,” said Wright said. “He’s got an old-school game, like his dad. And he’s approached it like a 10-year pro. As a freshman, you can be talented but not do those little things. He just does it like a vet.

That was Jay Wright back when Brunson was a freshman starter on a national championship team. Wright has been saying the same thing from the moment Brunson came into the program. It didn’t hurt to have a father, Rick Brunson, who played nine NBA seasons and drilled him on tape from an early age.

Jalen Brunson was an unstoppable scorer at Stevenson High School in north suburban Chicago. He famously dropped 56 points against Jahlil Okafor’s Whitney Young High School team in the semifinals of the state playoffs as a junior (it wasn’t his only 50-plus point game that year). As a senior, he scored 48 points against Jayson Tatum and Chaminade Prep and later went on to win a state title.

When he graduated, he went off to Greece to win a gold medal with USA Basketball while being named Most Valuable Player of the tournament. On a team with NBA players up and down the roster, Brunson was creating all the offense when it mattered.

It was obvious Brunson was going to be a problem at Villanova. It just took some time to happen.

As a freshman, Brunson had to learn how to be a role player. He was the fifth starter on a team that included veterans Ryan Arcidiacono, Josh Hart, Kris Jenkins, and Daniel Ochefu. Brunson would average nearly 10 points per game, but he rarely went into takeover mode. Villanova won the national championship because of its veterans. When Jenkins hit his instant classic buzzer-beater in the title game, Brunson was not on the court.

Brunson knew his time would come. Patience is the ultimate virtue at Villanova and there’s a very real road map for how it can pay off. As a sophomore, Brunson was one of the best point guards in college basketball. As a junior, he was so much more than that.

Here’s another quote on Brunson, this one from Xavier coach Chris Mack:

“You peel his face off, he’d probably have wires coming out of it.”

If you watched Brunson’s surgical guard play this season, it makes sense. Brunson was back in his preferred role as a go-to scorer as a junior. He didn’t need to carry Villanova’s offense every night because the Wildcats had so many other weapons, but there was never any doubt who was at the controls.

Brunson was a bully from all over the court. He shot 60 percent on twos, 40 percent on threes, and 80 percent on free throws on his way to averaging 19 points per game. He was at his best posting up smaller guards, finishing in the 98th percentile in the country in post scoring efficiency. His true shooting percentage (63.5) ranked No. 80 in the country, while his offensive rating (128.5) ranked No. 17.

Brunson swept the player of the year awards because he was the biggest star on the best team, yes. For as stacked as Villanova’s rotation was down the line this year, there’s no chance another national title would have happened without him.

Brunson is now finally projected as a first-round pick in ESPN’s latest mock draft. He’ll never be the biggest or most explosive point guard, but he knows how to get to his spots, his feel for the game is elite, he’s a dependable three-point shooter and he’s already been carrying himself like a pro for years.

All of this combined to make Brunson one of the great college basketball players in recent memory. Doubt him at the next level at your own peril.