City of Basketball Love

Eugene Rapay (@erapay5)
--

Jalen Brunson has been no stranger to fanfare or attention.

His name was firmly in National Player of the Year conversations all throughout the 2017-18 season. However, the excitement surrounding Brunson came before that, even before he officially enrolled at Villanova.

Brunson, a native of Lincolnshire, Ill., was a consensus five-star prospect in the Class of 2015 coming out of Adlai E. Stevenson High School. Many Villanova students were well aware of the top-25 recruit's official visit on the Main Line campus, as side conversations lowered to whispers when he walked through the dining hall alongside what would become his future teammates.

When he committed to Villanova, he was already ordained to be the next great Wildcat point guard, following in the footsteps of other great Jay Wright-era guards -- Kyle Lowry, Scottie Reynolds, and Ryan Arcidiacono, to name a few.

In some ways, he shares a lot in common with his predecessors. He dons the number 1, just as Lowry and Reynolds did.

Like Reynolds, he was named to the All-American team for his play. As for Arcidiacono, they share a national title together.

While there are some similarities and ties to those that came before him, Brunson is blazing his own path and will have an opportunity to put one final stamp on things this weekend.

In three years at Villanova, he has already tallied more career points than Arcidiacono and Lowry, entering Saturday's Final Four contest with 1,640. Although he probably won't catch Reynolds' 2,222-point total, Brunson has done something that he or any other Villanova player hadn't done before.

On Thursday, it was announced that he was named the Associated Press' National Player of the Year. A day later, the United States Basketball Writers Association awarded Brunson with the Oscar Robertson Trophy, which is given to the USBWA's National Player of the Year.

Until Brunson, no other Wildcat had achieved such a feat. While he might be due for even more accolades and awards, much like the hype that surrounded him over the last few years--he's not paying too much attention to it.

"Just from where I was back when I was a kid working out with my dad, and just to where I am now, it's been a long journey, a journey I wouldn't trade for the world," Brunson said. "I'm so honored and blessed to have the opportunity that I've had, but the most important thing is that I'm locked in on this tournament. The awards and things are very nice--and trust me, I want them all--but I'm so focused on this Kansas game, I'm so focused on how our team is going to play against them...that's all I'm worried about."

It's no surprise that Brunson is treating this Final Four run much like a business trip. After all, the co-captain barely smiles and exhibits a demeanor that mirrors his internal intensity.

After the Wildcats' Jan. 10 victory over Xavier, former Musketeers' head coach Chris Mack likened the Villanova point guard to an emotionless robot.

"You peel his face off, he'd probably have wires coming out of it," Mack quipped of Brunson earlier this season.

After deferring to Arcidiacono in his freshman season, and then an improved sophomore year that still had him behind current Los Angeles Laker Josh Hart and championship hero Kris Jenkins, Brunson has risen to the forefront as a junior.

This year, Brunson is averaging 19.2 points per game and 4.6 assists per game. He's knocked down 52.7 percent of his shots, including a 41.4 percent clip from beyond the arc.

He has also shined in the NCAA Tournament, earning the East Region Most Outstanding Player after the Elite Eight showdown with Texas Tech.

"I think the experience a couple years ago definitely has helped," he said. "I mean, just to be able to go through it once and able to come back down here is definitely an honor and a blessing, but going through it that one time, it definitely prepares you for what's about to happen."

Just as it did two seasons ago, Villanova's NCAA Tournament path runs right into the Kansas Jayhawks, team that the Wildcats defeated in the Elite Eight en route to a national championship.

As a freshman, Brunson had just seven points in that game, including a pair of free throws to close the game in closing seconds.

This time around, Brunson is bound for a much bigger role, but he'll face some equally tough opposition in Kansas point guard Devonte' Graham. Like Brunson, Graham has squarely been in National Player of the Year talks.

"I think Devonte's--all those guys are great," Villanova head coach Jay Wright said of the Jayhawks. "If you take a little bit, if you add a little bit to each one of them, Devonte is probably the best of all of them. And so I know Jalen loves a challenge. I think part of his challenge is not getting caught up in it, and I really hope he doesn't."

With a large venue like the Alamodome serving as college basketball's largest stage, it might be difficult to tune the noise out. Aside from that, there will be plenty of people watching, including scouts at the next level.

"Everybody's been talking about Devonte' vs. Jalen, but it's Villanova vs. Kansas," he said. "There's so many good pieces on that team to help them be successful, they've been that way all year, that's why they won the big 12 regular-season and the conference tournament. They have a really good team, and we got a taste of what that's like with the last two teams, so we know that they're one of the best teams in the country."

Brunson, who is set to graduate early after this season, is likely to enter the 2018 NBA Draft.

It's very possible that San Antonio will be the final place anyone sees him in a Villanova jersey. A marquee performance against a premier program and a high-caliber point guard like Graham could do wonders for his stock and his legacy. Unsurprisingly, though, Brunson downplayed the anticipation.

"I talk to my dad, talk to my mom, my sister," Brunson said. "Just making sure that I'm locked in, making sure that this is the only thing I'm worried about right now, playing with a clear head. That's all I'm worried about and that's all I want."