Jalen Hood-Schifino Expected to Make Immediate Impact at Indiana

NCAA.com's Andy Katz released a list of 12 freshmen that he expects to make a big impact on NCAA Tournament-hopeful teams in men's college basketball. Indiana's incoming five-star combo guard Jalen Hood-Schifino made the list.

USA Today

Indiana enters the 2022-2023 college basketball season with big-time expectations, and a top-10 recruiting class headlined by Jalen Hood-Schifino is a big reason why.

NCAA.com's Andy Katz released a list of 12 freshman that he expects to make the biggest impact on NCAA Tournament-hopeful teams. Hood-Schifino, a five-star combo guard who arrived in Bloomington this week for his freshman season, made the list.

"Hood-Schifino can play multiple guard positions and he will fit in perfectly with Xavier Johnson and help feed Trayce Jackson-Davis, Race Thompson and Jordan Geronimo," Katz wrote.

With the departure of guards Parker Stewart and Rob Phinisee, who combined to play 42.7 minutes per game last year, Hood-Schifino will have a chance to step into a starting role in year two of the Mike Woodson era. 

Hood-Schifino joins the Hoosiers as the No. 28 player in the country, according to the Sports Illustrated 99 rankings. Hood-Schifino, along with fellow Indiana-commit Malik Reneau, led Montverde Academy to a victory in the GEICO National Championship game. At 6-foot-5, Hood-Schifino has the height and strong build that will allow him to play in the physical Big Ten right away. 

He can push the pace in transition, is a solid 3-point shooter and is always looking to set up easy baskets for his teammates. Hood-Schifino is one of two Big Ten players to make Katz's list, as Skyy Clark, Hood-Schifino's teammate at Montverde, was also named.

"Clark will slide into a lead guard role that the Illini need to fill after the departures of Trent Frazier and Andre Curbelo. There will be plenty of mouths to feed, including transfers Terrence Shannon Jr. and Matthew Mayer, and the team's bigs, led by Coleman Hawkins," Katz wrote. 

The other 10 players named include Duke's Dereck Lively II and Dariq Whitehead, Kentucky's Cason Wallace and Chris Livingston, as well as Nick Smith (Arkansas), Gradey Dick (Kansas), Keyonte George (Baylor), Jarace Walker (Houston), Dillon Mitchell (Texas) and Brandon Miller (Alabama).

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