8/14/2021 basketball Edit

Top-35 2022 prospect Jalen Hood-Schifino sets decision date

Alec Lasley • TheHoosier

Senior Writer

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National top-35 guard Jalen Hood-Schifino has set his college announcement date for August 24.

His five finalists are Indiana, Memphis, Tennessee, Texas and Florida.

Hood-Schifino is ranked No. 32 in the Rivals150 class of 2022 rankings.

Heading into his decision, the 6-foot-5 guard has made junior year official visits to Indiana, Tennessee and Georgetown. He also made an unofficial visit to Wake Forest.

During the summer, Indiana was the most noticeable school recruiting him hardest. The IU staff went 3-deep multiple times to events and games for the 2022 prospect. Indiana also sent its entire coaching staff to what ended up being Hood-Schifino's final AAU game in July.

Hood-Schifino previously broke down some of the programs involved in his recruitment with Rivals national analyst Jamie Shaw, but only two of them stand in his top five, Indiana and Tennessee.

Indiana: “The history of Indiana is great. They have a new coach is Mike Woodson, who just got the job. He hit me up almost immediately after he was hired and I have gotten a good feel for him. I have been talking to coach Woodson and (assistant) coach Kenya Hunter a lot,"

Tennessee: “I have been talking with (assistant coach) Justin Gainey and head coach Rick Barnes, building a relationship with them. With all the players they have had recently, I am definitely excited to get on campus and see what they have to offer and everything.”

Hood-Schifino was offered from the previous Indiana staff but Mike Woodson has ramped up the Hoosiers' recruitment of the 6-foot-5 guard.

"Indiana has been coming hard too," Hood-Schifino previously noted. "They want me to come in and be me -- you know, play my game, get the ball out and go."

He has shown his ability to play both on and off of the ball this spring. He has made his jumper more consistent and has emerged as one of the top guards in the country.

"As far as offense, I feel like I'm really good in the open court, getting out and going," Hood-Schifino said. "Also in the pick and roll game. Learning how to slow the game down, coming off of screens, I feel like I've really become good at that. So playing fast and with a lot of ball screens."

Shaw described Hood-Schifino's game.

"Hood-Schifino is a strong-framed guard who plays with great pace in the half court. A true point guard, he has the size (6-foot-6 and 215 pounds) to play off the ball as well. Hood-Schifino can score in the mid range and is a high-level-to-elite rebounder from the guard position. He is also carving out a reputation as a shutdown perimeter defender. So much of his skill set leads to winning games."