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Five-star 2015 point guard Jalen Brunson announces eight finalists

Illinois Class 4A Basketball

Stevenson’s Jalen Brunson (15) cheers on his team as they play Edwardsville for the Illinois Class 4A third place game in Peoria, Ill., Saturday, March 22, 2014. (AP Photo/Journal Star, Fred Zwicky)

AP

While Malik Newman is generally regarded as the top prospect in the 2015 class, another guard receiving high praise from scouts is Jalen Brunson. The 6-foot-2 Illinois native, whose father is former NBA guard Rick Brunson, is considered to be one of the best point guards in the 2015 class and has been a highly sought-after player as a result.

Saturday afternoon Jalen tweeted out the final eight schools on his list in no particular order, with those schools being UConn, Michigan State, Illinois, Purdue, Kansas, Villanova, Michigan and Temple (his father’s alma mater).

Brunson earned AP Class 4A All-State honors as a junior at Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire, Ill., posting averages of 26.1 points, 5.4 rebounds, 4.7 assists and 2.9 steals per game. Brunson, the lone junior to be selected, finished in a tie for the most points received with center Jahlil Okafor.

Okafor, who was a McDonald’s All-American this year, will be attending Duke in the fall. Also on that first team All-State squad were power forward Cliff Alexander (headed to Kansas), point guard Tyler Ulis (Kentucky) and power forward Sean O’Mara (Xavier).

Among Brunson’s noteworthy moments as a junior was his 56-point performance in a 75-68 loss to Okafor’s Whitney Young squad in the semifinals of the Illinois state tournament, with the crowd giving him a standing ovation as he left the floor. The output set a state tournament single-game scoring record.

Video credit: Ball is Life

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