Friday Headlines: Jalen Duren Day Edition

By John Morgan Francis@MonJorgan Aug 6, 2021, 8:00am EDT

Today is the day. Today is the day that could ultimately change the outcome of this year’s college basketball season. There aren’t many players, let alone freshman, that can come in and make that significant of a difference for a team. But Jalen Duren certainly seems to be one of them.

Duren, far and away the nation’s top prospect, has pushed back his commitment date multiple times. It seems the choice has been down to two schools for quite some time though — Kentucky and Memphis.

Unfortunately, KSR’s Matt Jones went to Twitter Thursday evening claiming a “very good source” told him Duren is expected to pick Memphis today.

Very good source tells me that expectation is Jalen Duren picks Memphis tomorrow
— Matt Jones (@KySportsRadio) August 6, 2021

After Kentucky reportedly had a lack of interest in Kofi Cockburn, it would look a bit foolish for the Wildcats to completely miss on Duren after putting “all their eggs in one basket.”

Why though, you might ask, would Duren pick Memphis over such a storied program like Kentucky? Especially after all of the NBA success former Wildcats have had, specifically over the last few seasons.

Only Duren can answer that question. Though Miami and the G-League are both long-shot options for the top prospect, his decision today will come down to which blue jersey he prefers to rock this fall.