Jalen Brunson is an American professional basketball player for the New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Brunson is a two-time NCAA Champion (2016, 2018) at Villanova. As a junior, he averaged 18.9 points, 3.1 rebounds and 4.6 assists on his way to winning Big East Player of the Year, Big East Scholar Athlete of the Year and the Bob Cousy Award, given to the nation’s top point guard. He was also the only player in a Power 6 conference last season to shoot better than .520 from the field, .400 from behind-the-arc and .800 from the foul line. After a stellar collegiate career, the Mavs drafted Brunson with the 33rd overall pick in the 2018 draft. In his rookie season with the Mavs, Brunson averaged 9.3 points per game on an effective .467 from the field. The New Jersey native moved to Lincolnshire, Ill., in high school and became 2015 Mr. Illinois Basketball as a senior at Adlai E. Stevenson High School. Brunson was named McDonald’s All-American, Parade All-American and USA Basketball 2015 Male Athlete of the Year after leading Team USA’s under-19 team. He recently re-united with USA Basketball, currently playing on the Select team under Jeff Van Gundy, during the Mavs off-season.
