Prolific Prep guard becomes latest Class of 2020 product to pursue professional career.
Video: Jalen Green highlights Highlights of the 5-star prospect in action last season.
Green chose the professional route over Memphis, Auburn, Oregon and other top college programs vying for his services.
Making the announcement live on ESPN, the 6-foot-6 guard is the latest prospect to indicate he would be
forgoing college to pursue professional options.
He joins fellow elite
Class of 2020 prospects
Isaiah Todd,
Josh Hall and
MarJon Beauchamp, while a handful of other big names are also rumored to be considering professional options.
Other
players who have decided to skip college for the professional route in
recent years include LaMelo Ball, R.J. Hampton, Darius Bazley and
Anfernee Simons.
Green is regarded as the
No. 3 prospect in the Class
of 2020 according to 247Sports and is a front-runner to become the top pick in the 2021 NBA Draft.
He earned first team MaxPreps All-American honors after a tremendous senior season that saw him average 31.5 points, 7.5 rebounds and 5.0 rebounds per contest to lead the Crew to the No. 7 spot in the final Top 25.
Jalen Green ended his spectacular high school career with 3,299 career points. This year he broke Prolific Prep's single season scoring record with 1,008 points, adding to his school record of 2,291 career points at
San Joaquin Memorial (Fresno, Calif.).
The versatile scorer also had success with the USA Junior National Team, compiling a record of 19-0 with three gold medals — FIBA Americas U16 champions in 2017, FIBA U17 world champions in 2018 and FIBA U19 world champions in 2019.
Green is the highest profile player to enter the NBA G League professional pathway program. The program was launched in October of 2018 as an alternative to college basketball, paying players a salary of $125,000.
