NCAA Basketball Recruiting: Ranking No. 1 prospect Jalen Duren’s final 5 options
By Ian Mumm
Memphis Tigers
If there’s one position that head coach Penny Hardaway has been able to recruit the best, it’s undoubtedly the center spot. In the last two seasons, he has managed to sign #1 overall recruit James Wiseman and 5-star Moussa Cisse. The success in recruiting this position has set up strong preseason expectations on both ends of the floor. The issues though have been an inability to keep these players in the mix, for one reason or another.
Coach Hardaway has managed to again secure a top-15 recruiting class entering the 2021 season and appears to have the pieces once more to make a strong challenge on the court. Gaining a 5-star player this late in the offseason for the second straight year, directly from reclassification, would drastically increase the potential for the Tigers to make noise on a national level.
On his visit to the Memphis campus, Duren noted he was impressed with the staff and program that’s been built there. Feeling comfortable, he stated “the big thing was they felt like they could teach me how to be a pro and really take my game to another level.” Memphis has already landed a talented 4-star center in Sam Ayomide for the 2021 class, but Duren would automatically claim the top spot on the team.
His minutes wouldn’t be in jeopardy with a program like Memphis and he would be surrounded by a staff with plenty of NBA experience. Duren would be given the freedom to operate within the offense, much in the same way James Wiseman was catered to during his lone collegiate season, and have every opportunity to prove his skillset for NBA scouts.