In a little over 24 hours Jalen Duren will announce a final decision from five possible destinations for his immediate basketball future. The class of 2022 (but really 2021) superstar is down to the University of Kentucky, the University of Memphis and the University of Miami should he choose the college route, or lucrative professional offers from both the NBA G League and the National Basketball League in Australia.
There was a time when college wasn’t a realistic option for the No. 1 center in high school basketball, but the recent Name, Image, Likeness legislation shifted things back toward a year in college for the projected top-five pick in next summer’s draft.