Former Indiana guard Jalen Hood-Schifino has ‘clearly significant’ NBA upside

After a terrific freshman season, Indiana basketball guard Jalen Hood-Schifino announced he would be entering the NBA Draft and forgoing his remaining college eligibility. It was a move that was widely expected after the way he developed over the last three months of the season.

Hood-Schifino was named Big Ten Freshman of the Year this season as well as All-Big Ten Second-Team. He averaged 13.5 points, 4.1 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game this season. He shot 41.7 percent from the field and 33.3 percent from three.

After Xavier Johnson went down with a season-ending injury on Dec. 17, Hood-Schifino averaged 15.0 points per game and shot 43.3 percent from the floor.

Jalen Hood-Schifino was already on the NBA radar before this season, but not as high on draft boards as he is now. ESPN released its updated 2023 NBA Mock Draft and now has Hood-Schifino at No. 15 overall to the Atlanta Hawks.

“The Hawks are heavily reliant on the shot-creation prowess of Trae Young, whose standing is somewhat of an open question after a tumultuous season that saw changes in the front office and coaching staff. With that in mind, adding another lead guard to the team could make sense, making the live-dribble passing, shot-making and all-around aggressiveness Hood-Schifino brings attractive,” ESPN Draft analyst Jonathan Givony said. “He’s likely not ready to be handed the keys to an NBA offense anytime soon considering the huge swings in effectiveness we saw this season, but his upside is clearly significant for a team that can afford to be patient with his development.”

At 6-foot-4, Hood-Schifino has the ability to play both on and off of the ball. But, his shot-creation and shot-making ability this season blossomed as the year went on. He is terrific in ball screen action and already has a variety of moves in the paint to create space for an open 15+ foot jumper, or when attacking the rim.

Both signifiant abilities when discussing some of the best shot-making combo guards in the NBA.

With the ball in his hands so frequently, the risk-reward was there. He was second in the Big Ten in turnovers, but the amount of games he bailed Indiana out in late game situations was exponential.

“He’s still growing. He has still a ways to go, but the fact that nobody says anything — us losing Xavier Johnson was huge, and it just threw him right to the wolves basically,” Indiana head coach Mike Woodson said earlier this season. “He had to grow up awfully fast. And in doing that, he’s been great for us, man. He’s done a lot of great things for us to put us in this position.”

Hood-Schifino scored in double-figures in 22 of the 32 games played. He had five 20+ point games and two 30+ point games. He was the first Indiana player to have multiple 30+ point games in his first season since Eric Gordon.

His 35 points against Purdue were the second-most points by an Indiana freshman. It was also the first time in the last 25 years for a freshman to score at least 35 points in a road victory over an AP top-5 team.

The NBA draft combine is set for May 15-21 in Chicago, and the draft will be June 22 in New York.

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