Rise to the top in the NBA draft? The evolution of Fresno basketball star Jalen Green
Jalen Green’s life will forever change Thursday evening when a team is expected to select him somewhere in the top three during the NBA draft.
Many mock drafts have Green going to the Houston Rockets with the No. 2 selection. He said he’s only paying attention to the mock drafts that list the top three selections. (Detroit has No. 1, Cleveland No. 3.)
Green knows one thing: His dream of playing in the NBA will become a reality after making that goal at a Michael Jordan youth basketball camp in Santa Barbara many years ago.
“I’m excited, honestly,” Green said. “This is what I’ve been working for. This is my dream right here.”
Green was just 6 when he was dribbling a basketball in the family’s front yard in the Atwater-Livingston area.
Green and his grandfather would go outside and shoot around.
“Anybody that he can grab in the house,” his mom, Bree Purganan, said. “He’ll be out there shooting the basketball all the time, all day.”
But, basketball wasn’t his favorite at the time, Purganan said. She said Green would barely watch basketball on TV because he was active in other sports such as football, baseball, soccer and tennis.
There was a time Purganan thought football would be Green’s favorite sport to play.
“He would do every sport, every season,” she said. “I would get him into (sports) so that way it would keep him busy, not only that, so he can find his liking and what it was he was wanting to be most interested in or took a liking to. I kind of gave him an option playing every sport just so he can get a taste of everything.”
Move to Fresno
Basketball was entering in Green’s life at a slow pace as a 9-year-old when the family moved to Fresno.
Green was in third grade when he was playing football, basketball and track at Herndon-Barstow Elementary School.
Purganan put Green in the Michael Jordan youth basketball camp in Santa Barbara.
Maybe an assist on Jordan’s part? A photo from that camp shows Green and the NBA legend sharing a laugh together. The rest was history, Purganan said.
“He did well at that camp and stuck with him and (Jordan) encouraged him. That’s when he was falling in love with the sport,” she said.
Seventh grade arrived for Green and basketball became his passion.
He played on several clubs, including Clovis East High boys basketball coach Adrian Wiggins’ Nemesis AAU travel team for sixth- to eighth-graders.
“We would go down to LA and win tournaments,” Wiggins said. “Obviously, he was a big reason why. Jalen has always been a coachable player, which is one of the highest compliments a coach can give a player. I didn’t even start him at first because I wanted to see how he would respond. He handled it with class and proved he was not only a starter but the best player on our team.
“He was raised well and he deserves all the opportunities he has created for himself.”
Next up, San Joaquin Memorial
San Joaquin Memorial boys basketball coach Brad Roznovsky remembers meeting Green when he was in eighth grade.
Green asked plenty of questions about academics at Memorial.
Green was only listed 6 foot at the time, but Roznovsky remembers seeing tapes of Green and was floored by what he was able to do on the court.
“We saw his athleticism,” he said. “We figured, ‘Man, we might have something here.’”
Green enrolled in the private school in central Fresno and flourished for the Panthers and grew to 6-6.
He set a school record by scoring 2,350 career points from 2017-19 and was the sixth-best in Central Section history, according to section historian Bob Barnett. Green finished with 3,358 career points. He led the Panthers to back-to-back section titles.
Fans showed up, too
Fans came out to games and were wowed by Green’s dunks. The Panthers played in national tournaments and appeared on ESPN because of Green.
After games, Green signed autographs and posed for pictures with fans because they seem to figure someday he will be in the NBA.
“It didn’t matter who we were playing,” Roznovsky said. “He drew crowds. We always do a postgame talk after the game to talk about the game and get ourselves ready for the next day. Jalen would usually miss those because he’s being absorbed by the fans and signing autographs. We were OK with that. Fans were all over him.
“It was fun and we enjoyed it and made the most out of it.”
Green and Purganan said they always wondered why so many fans came to see him play and why they would want an autograph from him.
“We joke around and say, ‘Can you believe it?’ He’s still in awe,” Purganan said. “He said it was so surreal to him. To him, he’s not that big of a deal. He says that all the time. He said, ‘I’m just like any regular person.’ He still says ‘I’m just an ordinary person’ and ‘I’m not that huge of a deal. I’m just doing what I love and trying to succeed in it.’
“For him to be able to say that is pretty amazing because we see it as, ‘Wow.’ It’s crazy. You have all these people here that are supporting you and wanting your autograph and here he is just like ‘I don’t know why, I’m a normal person.’ Pretty cool to see and to see it doesn’t get to his head, take him beyond that humble stage that he’s remained in throughout the years.”
Green played for Prolific Prep in the Bay Area for his senior year, but he returned after the season to graduate with his friends at San Joaquin Memorial.
Green is NBA bound
Green, 19, was one of the first preps to follow a pro path in the NBA G League rather than go to college.
He averaged 17.9 points per game in 15 games for the G League Ignite, solidifying his spot as a top NBA prospect. Last week, Green had private workouts with Detroit and Cleveland.
Green’s family will be in New York; Purganan and Green’s sister, Jurnee, will be in the green room when his name is called early in the NBA draft by commissioner Adam Silver.
“Such a surreal moment,” Purganan said. “To know that this is probably going to be the biggest night of his life. We sit back as a family and we cannot get past how real it’s become and how surreal it is. We cannot believe it’s happening. I’m nervous and anxious. I’m excited.”
Green said he feels the same way and cannot wait until Thursday to find out where he will call his next home.
“A little anxious,” he said. “Little nervous, but it’s all part of the plan. Like I said, it’s about to be a dream come true and this is what I’ve been working for and play hours on. It’s finally here.”
