NCAA Basketball: Class of 2022’s No. 2 recruit Jalen Duren release top 11 list
By Ian Mumm
Villanova Wildcats
The Wildcats met some bad luck late in the season with a season-ending injury to team captain Collin Gillespie. However, the team was able to regroup to respectably challenge eventual national champion, Baylor, in the Sweet 16 of this year’s March Madness tournament. Head coach Jay Wright has turned the Wildcats program into a juggernaut over the last decade and has found ways to develop his players into efficient and versatile scoring machines.
Villanova is not known for premier frontcourt players in the same way some other programs are historically, however, Wright has done an excellent job of getting his players to the NBA in recent seasons. Saddiq Bey, Eric Paschall, Omari Spellman, and soon-to-be Jeremiah Robinson-Earl each have made the jump to the professional ranks largely thanks to their ability to affect the game in numerous ways. The likelihood of Duren doing this is as well is very good if he donned a Villanova uniform.
On top of that, Duren is the most athletic and forceful player of that group indicating his impact with the program could be quickly vaulted above them. That’s saying a lot for the production Wildcat players have been able to conduct recently, but those are the expectations that come with Duren’s skillset. To top it off, joining the Villanova program would be Duren picking his hometown university – always something to consider.