Peach Jam: Top 2022 Forward Jalen Duren Breaks Down His Top Five

Duren will decide between college and pro options after the live period concludes in July.

Author:
Jason Jordan
Publish date:
Jul 23, 2021

Jalen Duren took a major step toward his ultimate decision for the next level earlier this month, chopping his list from 11 to five; Kentucky, Miami, Memphis, the G League and the Australian NBL all remain in contention to land the 6-foot-10 forward.

“These are the five options I felt the most comfortable with and the ones I felt like I could see myself at,” Duren said. “This makes the process less crazy because with all of the calls and texts it can be a lot at times.”

Duren was arguably the most dominant full-time paint scorer in easily the toughest league (National Interscholastic Basketball Conference) in the country, averaging 16 points, 12 rebounds and 2.4 blocks a game for Montverde (Fla.) Academy, who won the GEICO Nationals title.

That level of production was good enough to earn him SI All-American Second Team honors this past season.

Duren’s numbers are even more impressive considering he plays on a roster loaded with more than eight high major Division I prospects.

His dominance has only grown this summer season, despite playing alongside the elite stars like Emoni Bates and Dereck Lively.

Duren just finished up an official visit tour to his three college finalists and rated all of them “10s.”

Each school was parked court side for all of Duren’s games this week at Peach Jam.

“Now that I’ve been on the visits, it honestly makes the process more exciting,” Duren said. “I’ve seen what they have to offer, and I just liked everything about the schools.”

Duren said his information-gathering process with the two pro options involves meetings and picking the brains of players who have gone those routes.

“I’ve just been hearing the teams out and seeing what they have to offer,” Duren said. “I’ve talked to guys who have played like Zay (Todd) and just seeing how the experience was. I just want to get all the perspectives I think I need to make the best decision. I can tell you I have no idea what I want to do right now. I’m gonna focus on the live period right now and then I will make a decision sometime after Peach Jam.”