HERAKLION, GREECE—Jalen Suggs is the best two sport prospect in the Class of 2020.
When the 6-5, 195-pound point guard from Minnehaha, Minn. Academy in St. Paul, who is one of five precocious 17- year old players competing on the USA Basketball FIBA U19 World Championship team, was five, he was playing quarterback on a 10-year old football team coached by his father Larry. He went on to start for his high school varsity as an eight-grader, was offered his first football scholarship by Iowa State in ninth grader has led his team MSB, to a Minnesota state championships as a junior when he accounted for five touchdowns and is now being recruited by schools Alabama, Ohio State, Tennessee, Notre Dame and Minnesota as one of the seven best dual threat quarterbacks in the country.
When Suggs was four, he was handling with his right and left hand in basketball and filling on a 10 and under team coached by his father Larry. He has put up 1,000 shots a day since he was five-years old. Suggs was offered his first basketball scholarship offer came in sixth grade from Rob Jeter of Wisconsin-Milwaukee who watched a mixed tape of Suggs draining threes and making floaters against a group of elite high school, college and NBA players. He has gone win three straight state championships and start for three years on USA Basketball teams, winning two gold medal and is being recruited heavily by schools like Gonzaga, Marquette, Michigan and Minnesota and is considered by best point guard in the country by Rivals. services.
Suggs will make his college decision in August.
The big question will be whether he plays football, basketball or follows in the footsteps of generational athletes like quarterback/point guard Charlie Ward of Florida State and defensive end/power forward Julius Pepper of North Carolina and tight end/power forward Tony Gonzalez of Cal, who played and starred in both at the highest level in college.
“I couldn’t tell you,’’ Suggs said. “If I have a football or basketball in my hands, both bring me comfort and joy. It’s appealing because it’s hard to give one up.’’
Whichever sport he plays, he has a chance to play at the highest level. He comes from a family that has talented blood lines. One, second cousin Terrell Suggs, a linebacker for the Baltimore Ravens is a first ballot possibility for NFL Hall of Fame. Another, Eddie Jones, played 14 years in the NBA. Suggs has worked hard in the film room to master both sports.
The only difference is the timeline involved. “If you go football, you wait in college for three years,’’ he said. “In basketball, the wait is only one year. At the end of the day, I’m going to have to give one up. You can’t play both forever.’’
Suggs, this team’s best on the ball defender, is a natural leader and a born winner. But he started off his latest FIBA tournament slowly and struggling with his shooting, making just 1 of 8 shots in a difficult group victory over Lithuania here at Heraklion Indoor Sports Arena. But he had a breakout game Tuesday when he scored 14 points with two threes and four assists as the USA used a huge second half to defeat Senegal, 87-58, to finish first in Group A competition. The Americans (3-0) will play Latvia (0-3), the fourth- place team in Group D, in the round of 16 today at 1 p.m. local time in University Hall on the campus of the University of Crete.
“I tried to focus on just having fun,’’ Suggs said. “I talked with my parents, I talked with the coaching staff, JG (Jalen Green) and a couple of people back home and that’s the one thing they said, they wanted me to smile more. You don’t look like you are enjoying the game and I really sat back and reflected on that. I’m out here in Greece playing basketball for my country, and there’s nothing better than this.’’
Unlike the dysfunctional, under manned U19 bronze medal U19 team the USA sent to Cairo four years ago, this American team has plenty of options and plenty of unselfishness. They are deep, putting six players in double figures. Suggs and the 6-5 Green from Prolific Prep in Napa. Calif. each finished with 14 points. Sophomore forward Trevion Williams from Purdue had 11 while sophomore guard Isaac Likekele of Oklahoma State, incoming Villanova freshman forward Jeremiah Robinson-Earl and forward Zaire Williams from Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks, Calif., added 10 points apiece.
The US made up for the fact Senegal, one of multiple improving African counties, grabbed a record 31 offensive rebounds, with excellent ball movement, contributing 28 assists on 35 field goals, and played high energy pressure defense, forcing Senegal into 27 turnovers.
But this game was all about Suggs getting his groove back.
“Since the time we started this, Jalen hasn’t made shots and we all know he can shoot the basketball,’’ USA Basketball coach Bruce Webber said. “So, it was good for him to get a couple open looks and make him feel better. He’s an elite defender, an elite athlete and we’re asking a lot of him—pressure the ball, be on the point guard and he’s trying to figure it out and each day get a little better.
