It is my opinion that just by watching his playing style and how he is able to handle himself on the court as a leader and player that he should be next year's No.1 high school point guard recruit in the country and possibly the No.1 overall high school player recruit in the country, which would make him the third straight player from the state of Illinois to be the No.1 overall recruit since this year's Jahlil Okafor of Whitney Young High School (currently committed to Duke) and former Simeon Academy and current Duke Blue Devil Jabari Parker. But what makes Brunson unique from both Okafor and Parker is the position he plays and how he plays it and his height.
Jabari Parker is a 6"8' forward that won multiple state championships at Simeon Academy. Parker is regarded as one of this year's best college freshman basketball players. He has also been tabbed as the possible No.1 overall pick for this year's NBA Draft. Jahlil Okafor is a 6"11' center whose a dominate force inside the paint and under basket both on offense and on defense, which he demonstrated when he faced Brunson's Stevenson Patriots in the semifinals of the Class 4A Illinois State Tournament and then again just yesterday to capture the Class 4A State Championship. Yes, that is impressive and shows that they are probably dominate players, but Brunson stands just as tall (game wise) and plays just as well as they do.
So after all this praising of how good Jalen Brunson is, why the title you may ask? Well, here's the thing: when Jalen Brunson's Stevenson Patriots met Jahlil Okafor's Whitney Young Dolphins in the Class 4A State Tournament semifinals, it was a game for the ages. The game ended with the Dolphins edging out the Patriots 75-68. Though Okafor scored 33 points and demonstrated his ability to be a great big man, it was Jalen Brunson's record shattering 56 points performance that stood as the highlight, that is until he decided to give the fans of Whitney Young a nice "salute" if you will. That's right. Jalen Brunson gave the fans of Whitney Young the middle finger on both hands after they had lost, making his stellar performance seem like almost nothing.
Now, as a guy that is not but 3 years graduated from high school and played football, I can understand the feeling and emotion that comes with losing such a big and important game. Sometimes, without even thinking about it, you react in a way that is not appropriate because of the frustration built up and anger you feel that you couldn't get it done. Believe me, I can sympathize with that. It's the act done by the IHSA's Board of Directors in overturning a suspension given to Jalen Brunson for his classless act toward the fans after an appeal hearing. Now again, the argument can be made that he is "just a kid" and that with the emotional blow of losing a big game like that can drive a kid to do some unexpected and stupid things. But when I watch the videos and see the photos, it looks to me like Brunson knows exactly what he is doing, and if that is the case, then I cannot overlook that action.
According to an article written by CSNChicago.com's Scott Phillips, in a closed-door meeting with Brunson and his family, IHSA executive director Marty Hickman had suspended Jalen from Saturday's game against Edwardsville for third place. Just this past Saturday, as Edwardsville began to warm up and with about eight minutes left to do so, Brunson was greeted by cheers and roars as he stepped on the court. Jalen Brunson's suspension was overturned and he was allowed to participate in leading Stevenson to a win over Edwardsville for third place in the IHSA Class 4A Tournament.
Now, as a guy that is not but 3 years graduated from high school and played football, I can understand the feeling and emotion that comes with losing such a big and important game. Sometimes, without even thinking about it, you react in a way that is not appropriate because of the frustration built up and anger you feel that you couldn't get it done. Believe me, I can sympathize with that. It's the act done by the IHSA's Board of Directors in overturning a suspension given to Jalen Brunson for his classless act toward the fans after an appeal hearing. Now again, the argument can be made that he is "just a kid" and that with the emotional blow of losing a big game like that can drive a kid to do some unexpected and stupid things. But when I watch the videos and see the photos, it looks to me like Brunson knows exactly what he is doing, and if that is the case, then I cannot overlook that action.
According to an article written by CSNChicago.com's Scott Phillips, in a closed-door meeting with Brunson and his family, IHSA executive director Marty Hickman had suspended Jalen from Saturday's game against Edwardsville for third place. Just this past Saturday, as Edwardsville began to warm up and with about eight minutes left to do so, Brunson was greeted by cheers and roars as he stepped on the court. Jalen Brunson's suspension was overturned and he was allowed to participate in leading Stevenson to a win over Edwardsville for third place in the IHSA Class 4A Tournament.
Now, this is just ridiculous. This is the real world we are talking about. I mean, think if it was just an average, nobody player who had done something like this. There would probably be no doubt that he would stay suspended. This is more of a case where the state of Illinois has an opportunity to put a star athlete on a platform and showcase his talents in order to create the drawing card of the state's athletic talent. The IHSA Board of Directors gave Jalen Brunson the chance to speak on the situation and looking at other pieces of evidence. The Board eventually came out saying, "After doing so, the Board agreed that the gesture could have been inappropriate. However, without additional supporting evidence, we could not make the determination that the gesture was intended as an unsportsmanlike action and chose to overturn the ruling"(Phillips).
Now, this is just unbelievable. The gesture "Could have been inappropriate"? Are they serious? Whether an accident or not, it IS an inappropriate gesture that means what it means regardless of Brunson's intentions, age, and the other factors that would fall in with it. Something like this should not have been allowed because we can all see that it was what it was. this is just another case where the star athlete of a school is given some kind of special treatment and allowed to get away with something where, if say the simple average person such as myself, were to do something like what he had done, I would've been suspended and that would have been that more than likely, even with an appeal. It is just so unfair to see a young man who is regarded as a star athlete and is looked at by others as a model kid and student on and off the court would not stop and have the presence of mind to just keep his cool and understand that to react like that is wrong and just keep himself under control.
Now, this is just unbelievable. The gesture "Could have been inappropriate"? Are they serious? Whether an accident or not, it IS an inappropriate gesture that means what it means regardless of Brunson's intentions, age, and the other factors that would fall in with it. Something like this should not have been allowed because we can all see that it was what it was. this is just another case where the star athlete of a school is given some kind of special treatment and allowed to get away with something where, if say the simple average person such as myself, were to do something like what he had done, I would've been suspended and that would have been that more than likely, even with an appeal. It is just so unfair to see a young man who is regarded as a star athlete and is looked at by others as a model kid and student on and off the court would not stop and have the presence of mind to just keep his cool and understand that to react like that is wrong and just keep himself under control.
But Jalen Brunson, after all, is "just a kid" and does not apparently know any better about what he had done. You know, I think I have heard an excuse like that before. Oh yeah, Johnny Manziel aka Johnny Football on everyone of his little off field antics like getting kicked out of a frat party at Texas University and, oh I don't know, the time he was accused of signing off on Texas A&M merchandise and was reported to have been paid $7500. If I remember correctly, I think he was only suspended the first half of a game for that and received no long term suspension for the action because they could find no evidence that Manziel was paid for the signing autographs. But maybe I'm wrong. Maybe there is no favoritism and that the system is not corrupt and broken and favors those that create substantial revenues for the associations. Maybe I am wrong about it all, but I think I have be just in my opinion. I leave you to make your thought.
No comments:
Post a Comment