Syracuse 43-year head coach Jim Boeheim described Jalen as one of the best offensive guards he’s had in 20 years, citing his quickness, anticipation and feel for the game. Assistant coach Gerry McNamara has been “blown away” with Jalen’s development in the pick-and-roll game. Fellow assistant Allen Griffin called Jalen, a 6-foot-3 combo guard, “one of the fastest guards, foul line to foul line, in the country.”
As Jalen embarks on his career at SU, he remembers Harlem. It’s the area that provided him little and, at times, impeded him. It’s the area that challenged him and forced him to grow out of discomfort. It’s why he’s here.
“I carry my neighborhood with me wherever I go,” Jalen said. “The city built me. Everything is earned where I’m from. There’s no easy way, nothing given.”
Jalen and John were always on “The Block,” a term around the Syracuse program that references Jalen’s neighborhood. His father said that they lived across the street from Jalen’s mother, Tawana Alston, and a few blocks from the wife of the late Pearl Washington. Jalen continues a line of Syracuse stars from New York City. Most notable: associate head coach Adrian Autry, whose game was born on the same courts as Jalen. He grew up just two buildings away during the 1980s.
He authored his dreams the old-fashioned way: practice. To create proper form in his son’s shot, John made him shoot exclusively on 10-foot hoops, no mini baskets. At 5 or 6, Jalen shot dozens of airballs to start workouts, since he couldn’t reach the basket. John let him use a smaller ball from right beneath the rim. When shots scraped the rim, John encouraged Jalen to aim higher.
On most mornings, he and his father walked to the bottom of their apartment building, stepped outside, took a few dribbles, and found themselves on a basketball court. Other fathers took their sons to the gym, John said, but he wanted Jalen to develop toughness outside.
Together, Jalen and John worked on his shot, changing the shape of his form to increase its consistency. They developed his footwork, which expanded his agility, court vision and allowed him to put his lower body, and legs, in every rise off the ground into his shot. They focused on his ball handling, so that he could dribble equally with both hands. And they emphasized the mental aspects of the game, figuring out how to put him in the best state of mind. John wanted him to manage and feed on pressure.
“We never had a gym to really work out in,” Jalen said. “He had me working out in the beaming hot sun, doing a lot of running. It was just awful, awful times. That’s why I’m here now, because my dad pushed me so hard.”
The workouts intensified when Jalen was 11. They’d do three-a-days: shots in the morning; running and pullups on the playground during the afternoon; more running, dribbling and shooting at night. In the summers, John took two weeks off work for “vacation.” He and Jalen played in the park from sunrise to about 5 or 6 p.m., he said. When Jalen and his father were training in the snow, passersby gave funny looks.
One day after the next, Jalen and his father built up his shot and endurance, because he had to, and because there wasn’t much of alternative. “This is the A-way out,” John said. “There is no B.” Once understood, moves had to be learned, tweaked, developed and mastered. By starting close to the basket, Jalen created natural rise in his jump shot and a perfectly timed high release. He had to shoot with his legs to reach.
“Sometimes we’d wake up at 5 or 6 before school,” John said. “Somebody could have come shot us and nobody would know. Somebody could have robbed us and nobody would know. You think we cared?”
For years, Jalen worked hard and trained on his own. He woke up extra early before school to get his routine in, and he hopped off the bus in the afternoon to head straight for the courts. As Jalen matured, John pressed him to train harder. He reminded him of what his future could hold. But Jalen formed a perception that maybe everything was going to be OK.
Early in high school, Jalen’s status as a star in his class became clear. He was developing into one of the top players in his grade, piquing interest from Syracuse, Connecticut, Kansas and Miami. Jalen said he may have been complacent, occasionally carefree. He’d laugh and joke at practice, make light of something funny or look away from the action on occasion. At times, minute details were of little concern.
“He was lazy at one point,” said Jimmy Salmon, Jalen’s high school coach.
