Jalen Montez Duren is an American professional basketball player for the Detroit Pistons of the National Basketball Association.
20 Facts About Jalen Duren
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Jalen Duren was a consensus five-star recruit and one of the top players in the 2021 class.
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Jalen Duren was born in Sharon Hill, Pennsylvania, before his family moved to New Castle, Delaware.
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Jalen Duren grew up playing football and baseball in addition to basketball, which he ended up focusing on as he grew older and improved his skills.
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Jalen Duren was spotted by Rob Brown, the program director for a Philadelphia-based Amateur Athletic Union club called Team Final, who quickly recruited him to the program.
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Jalen Duren committed to playing high school basketball at Roman Catholic High School in Philadelphia, along with AAU teammate and highly ranked guard Justice Williams, after having been personally recruited by head coach Matt Griffin.
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Jalen Duren averaged 12.8 points, 9.3 rebounds and 2.5 blocks per game while shooting 71 percent from the field as a freshman, leading his team to their second consecutive Philadelphia Catholic League title.
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Jalen Duren earned first-team all-league and second-team all-state honors, and was named a MaxPreps Freshman All-American.
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Jalen Duren was one of only five underclassmen named to the Sports Illustrated Preseason All-American team.
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In January 2021, Jalen Duren had a strong showing competing against high-level talent at the St James NIBC Invitational in Washington, DC, including a SportsCenter Top 10 play against Wasatch Academy where he blocked a shot by catching the ball in mid-air.
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Jalen Duren overtook Emoni Bates in his junior year as the top prospect in the 2022 recruiting class, surpassing Bates as the number one recruit according to ESPN, 247Sports and Rivals.
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Jalen Duren was named to the First Team All-AAC as well as AAC Freshman of the Year.
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Jalen Duren led Memphis to their first NCAA tournament appearance since 2014, leading the Tigers to the round of 32.
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Jalen Duren was selected with the 13th overall pick by the Charlotte Hornets in the 2022 NBA draft.
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On July 7,2022, Jalen Duren signed a rookie-scale contract with the Pistons.
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Jalen Duren played for the United States at the 2019 FIBA Under-16 Americas Championship in Belem, Brazil.
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Jalen Duren averaged 10.3 points, 8.2 rebounds, and two blocks per game en route to a gold medal and a spot on the tournament all-star five team.
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Jalen Duren was widely considered the best "true post" player in his class by recruiting sites and sportswriters alike.
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Jalen Duren wields influence in the paint due to his size, strength, athleticism and footwork that allows him to dominate on both sides of the floor.
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Jalen Duren's physically imposing frame and shot-blocking talent drew comparisons to Bam Adebayo from 247Sports national basketball director Eric Bossi, while his AAU coach Chris Rountree likened him to Marvin Bagley III.