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Sam Brunson Biography & Facts

Jalen Marquis Brunson (born August 31, 1996) is an American professional basketball player for the New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was drafted with the 33rd overall selection of the 2018 NBA draft by the Dallas Mavericks and played his first four seasons in the NBA with them. He played college basketball for Villanova University, where he was the National Player of the Year as a junior and won two national championships. Brunson participated in the 2015 McDonald's All-American Boys Game as well as the 2015 Jordan Brand Classic and represented the Team USA in the Nike Hoop Summit. He led Stevenson to the Illinois High School Association (IHSA) Class 4A championship. Following the season, he won Illinois Mr. Basketball. Brunson holds the IHSA playoff single-game and the IHSA Class 4A championship game scoring records and set the USA Basketball single-game assist record for the FIBA Americas Under-18 Championship. He earned the MVP of the 2015 FIBA Under-19 World Cup for the gold medal-winning Team USA. Brunson began his college career as the 2015–16 Big East Conference Preseason Freshman of the Year and was a Big East All-Freshman Team selection following the season. As a starter, he helped the 2015–16 Wildcats win the championship game of the 2016 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament. As a sophomore, he was a unanimous 2016–17 All-Big East first team selection for the 2016–17 Wildcats. As a junior, he was the National Player of the Year and a Consensus first-team 2018 All-Americans and he helped the 2017–18 Wildcats win the championship game of the 2018 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament to give Villanova their second National Championship in three years. Brunson played four years for the Dallas Mavericks. After helping the Mavericks reach the Western Conference finals, he signed with the New York Knicks as a free agent in 2022. With the Knicks, he elevated his game and became an NBA All-Star for the first time in 2024. He set the NBA record for most three point shots made in a half without a miss (8) and tied the NBA record for most three point shots made in a single-game without a miss (9). Early life Born in New Brunswick, New Jersey, Brunson was raised in southern New Jersey until sixth grade. He is the son of Rick and Sandra Brunson. He has a sister Erica (born c. 2001). His parents met at Temple University where Rick played for the basketball team. Rick went on to spend nine seasons in the NBA. The family first settled in Cherry Hill, New Jersey but moved seven times before settling in Lincolnshire, Illinois in 2010 where Jalen played his high school career for Stevenson High School. As a youth, he spent time in NBA locker rooms such as when his father played for the Knicks where his future head coach Tom Thibodeau was serving as an assistant coach. High school career As a freshman, Brunson was an All–Lake County honorable mention selection in 2012, as Stevenson finished the season with a 17–11 record. During his sophomore season, Stevenson started the season 10–4 before going on a 19-game winning streak. That year, Brunson led Stevenson to the March 16, 2013, IHSA Class 4A championship game against Jabari Parker and Kendrick Nunn's three-time defending state champion Simeon Career Academy, where he got the Simeon backcourt in foul trouble in the first half before being held to one point in the second half of a 58–40 loss. Stevenson finished the season 29–5. Following the season, the Associated Press named him to the Class 4A All-state second team as the only sophomore on the first or second team. Brunson averaged 21.5 points that season. On February 21, 2014, junior Brunson scored 57 points in a double overtime victory over Lake Forest High School. The performance gave him both the school single-game and career scoring records. On March 21, Brunson set the IHSA playoff single game scoring record against the Jahlil Okafor–led Whitney Young High School by scoring 56 points in a 75–68 state playoff semi-final loss. In the game, still images of a movement by Brunson appeared to be an obscene gesture, but video of the gesture were deemed to be inconclusive and an initial suspension for the subsequent consolation game was overturned. Brunson averaged 26.1 points, 5.4 rebounds, 4.7 assists and 2.9 steals for a Stevenson team that finished the season with a 32–2 record. Two members of his high school team were National Football League athletes' offspring: Matt Morrissey and Cameron Green. Brunson was named Gatorade Player of the Year for the state of Illinois as a junior. Following the season, Associated Press named him as the only non-senior on the Class 4A All-state first team that also included Okafor, Cliff Alexander, Tyler Ulis and Sean O'Mara. He finished fourth in the 2014 Illinois Mr. Basketball voting. In April 2014, Illinois, Purdue, Kansas and Villanova had in-home visits. On May 3, 2014, he announced the eight schools that he was considering playing college basketball for: UConn, Michigan State, Illinois, Kansas, Purdue, Villanova, Michigan and Temple. That summer he was the number one rated point guard according to ESPN, although the class had a notable shortage of elite pure point guards. On June 25—the day after Jalen won a gold medal at the 2014 FIBA Americas Under-18 Championship—Rick Brunson received an offer as an on-bench assistant coach from Temple. The Temple offer fell through when Rick Brunson was arrested on various charges on July 25, and Temple fell out of the running for Jalen's services. Brunson participated in the July 9–11 LeBron James Skills Academy. On August 5, he announced official visits to Illinois on August 29–31, Villanova on September 4–6 and then Temple from September 11–13 and on August 9, he announced official visits to Michigan State from September 19–21 and Purdue on September 26–28. On September 8, Brunson announced that he would be curtailing his recruitment and making his decision between Illinois and Villanova on September 10. On that date, Brunson committed to Villanova. At the time of his decision, he was ranked as the number one point guard in the national class of 2015 by Scout.com. Stevenson was a preseason top-10 team in the MaxPreps national high school rankings. A lot was expected of Brunson's team after losing to teams led by Parker and Okafor in the IHSA tournament final four in 2013 and 2014 even though no team from Lake County has ever won a state basketball championship. The team rattled off 11 straight victories to start the season before losing 88–81 to Chaminade Prep and its star Jayson Tatum in the Cancer Research Classic in Wheeling, WV, despite 48 points from Brunson. On January 17, Brunson and Stevenson faced Derryck Thornton, Jr. and Findlay Prep at the Hoophall Classic. At the time, Brunson was the number 3 ranked point guard in the class of 2015 and Thornton was the number 2 ranked point guard in the class of 2016 for the number 1 team in .... Discover the Sam Brunson popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Sam Brunson books.