Watch: Former Indiana basketball guard Jalen Hood-Schifino scores first NBA basket

Former Indiana basketball guard Jalen Hood-Schifino has officially started his NBA career. In the Lakers win over the Pistons, Hood-Schifino scored his first career points with a step-back jumper, a move many Hoosier fans saw during his one year in Bloomington.

He finished with 10 points on 3-of-4 shooting in 11 minutes of action.

Hood-Schifino recently became available to play for the Lakers after battling a right patella contusion that saw him miss the first part of the NBA season. Lakers head coach Darvin Ham is very high on the former Indiana basketball target and sees big things in his NBA career.

“Jalen is really soft spoken, I said, ‘kid you are going to be a 15-year point guard in this league with the skillset you have, with the way you are going to get better and how young you are’ … Played with a lot of moxie … he plays with stability,” said Ham. “You can’t speed him up, you can’t slow him down. He’s a fierce competitor in a silent way. You are not going to be able to do whatever you want with him. He is going to guard the hell out of the ball.”

During six Summer League games, Hood-Schifino averaged 13.7 points, 4.2 rebounds, 3.3 assists, and 1.3 steals per game. He struggled shooting the ball, again, at just 34 percent from the field and 21.7 percent from three.

He was picked No. 17 overall in the 2023 NBA draft after one season playing under Mike Woodson at Indiana. In his lone season playing for Mike Woodson and Indiana, Hood-Schifino averaged 13.5 points, 4.1 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game. He was the first Indiana basketball 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.

Watch Jalen Hood-Schifino’s first bucket here.

First career bucket for @jalenhs 💜💛 pic.twitter.com/cRrgHVwime

— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) November 30, 2023

SEE ALSO: Former Indiana basketball guard Yogi Ferrell signs with Partizan Basketball Club

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