Jalen Hood-Schifino ready for NBA: ‘I will never shy away from the bright lights or the moment’

Following a successful freshman season with the Indiana basketball program, Jalen Hood-Schifino is ready for the ‘bright lights’ of the NBA.

The 6-foot-4 guard is taking part in the NBA Combine this week in Chicago and looking to land in the late lottery. Following the NBA Draft Lottery drawing, there are numerous potential fits for the Jalen Hood-Schifino in the back part of the lottery and late-teens.

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.

More: NBA Combine measurements for Jalen Hood-Schifino, Trayce Jackson-Davis

“He lives for these big moments … Fino, he’s a gamer,” IU forward Trayce Jackson-Davis said earlier this season. “He works hard every day. He has the ultimate confidence in his abilities … he’s just next-play mentality, and he’s just ready to go always.”

“Us losing Xavier Johnson was huge, and it just threw him right to the wolves basically,” IU head coach Mike Woodson said. “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.”

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 the remainder of the season.

Despite the news on Johnson, that was the spark that got Hood-Schifino going and in turn allowed him to blossom as much as he did.

“I’ve always put the work in and when Xavier went down, the coaches gave me the keys. And I will never shy away from the bright lights or the moment,” Hood-Schifino told Andy Katz at the Combine. “As you see, when the ball is put in my hands great things happen and it allowed me to take off and have a successful season and be a potential lottery pick and first round pick.”

That hard work and that mentality is nothing new, however. He was a back-to-back National Champion at Montverde Academy (Fla.) in high school and one of the most talented point guards in the 2022 class.

But the success he had never impacted his ability to perform and show up every day with the hard work and mentality needed to succeed.

“It’s something I saw in high school, and high school is not college,” Woodson said about the mentality of Jalen Hood-Schifino. “Once he got here, you could see how he approached things on and off the floor, his demeanor.”

His competitive and winning nature is appealing to many NBA teams, as is hit potential to play both on and off of the ball

It doesn’t hurt that the Indiana guard has tremendous shot-making ability as well. 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.

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.

“We knew when we recruited him he could get to those spots and make shots, so I try to put my offense around him. And tonight we ran a lot of pick and rolls with the ball in his hands and he made a lot of good offensive plays,” Woodson said on Hood-Schifino following his performance against Purdue.

“That’s what makes me so special,” Hood-Schifino added to Katz. “I can play on the ball but versatile and big enough to play off the ball and defensively I’m able to guard multiple positions … Coming in as a rookie, you aren’t coming in to be a superstar, you have to work your way in to earn minutes. For me, me being the defensive player I am, that’ll give me an edge over certain players and earn minutes right away.”

The NBA Draft will take place on June 22.

SEE ALSO: Five potential landing spots for Jalen Hood-Schifino post NBA lottery drawing

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