New York Knicks star Jalen Brunson spent two years as a preteen in Charlottesville, while his father, Rick Brunson, was the director of basketball operations on the staff of Dave Leitao, the UVA Basketball coach who opened JPJ.
Jalen Brunson, like his dad, is a small (from an NBA perspective) 6’2” point guard with an old school game, at his best in the paint (Brunson led all NBA point guards this season with 2.7 made field goals per game in the paint) and in the midrange (again, he led all NBA point guards here, with 2.1 makes per game).
The first lessons in how to play as a 6’2” guy in the midst of giants were on an outdoor court at Charlottesville High School, where Rick, a star at Temple who played for eight NBA teams in his nine-year pro career, was the toughest of tough-love coaches.
“He yelled at me, barked at me. I didn’t realize what he was doing. I hated him. I wouldn’t talk to him,” Jalen related in an interview with The Daily Progress for a 2013 feature.
By that point, the family had moved to Illinois, after Rick caught on as an assistant with the Chicago Bulls, on the staff of Tom Thibodeau, who would coach Jalen for three seasons with the New York Knicks, from 2022-2025.
The Progress feature was meant to highlight the possibility of Jalen Brunson returning to Charlottesville to play at UVA, which was among his most fervent suitors.
Brunson ended up at Villanova, where he won two national championships, in 2016 and 2018.
The 2016 team did play Virginia in JPJ, on the court where Brunson, as a preteen, played one-on-one games with Sean Singletary, had shooting contests with Sylven Landesberg and got into scrimmages with the women’s team.
Virginia won that game against Brunson’s ‘Nova team, 86-75; Brunson, a freshman in his 10th college game, scored eight points (1-of-3 2FG, 2-of-3 3FG, 0-of-1 FT) with no assists and two turnovers in 24 minutes.
ICYMI: UVA 86, Villanova 75 (2015-2016 season)
- #8 Virginia wins heavyweight battle with #12 Villanova, 86-75
- Inside the Numbers: #8 Virginia defeats #12 Villanova, 86-75
- Boring? Virginia breaking mold with offensive ouput
- How good is this Virginia basketball team? Good, damn good
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Chris Graham
