IrishIllustrated.com - Coleman begins to evaluate

May 7, 2012

Jake Brown
IrishIllustrated.com Recruiting Analyst

FT. WAYNE, Ind. - Few programs have waited to court Jalen Coleman, especially those in the local area.

Toward the end of last summer the sophomore guard from Cathedral High School in Indianapolis started to become a sought prospect. Notre Dame, Indiana, Illinois, Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State and Purdue all checked in. Texas and Florida have since done the same.

Coleman dove into the process with some campus visits but maintains a deliberate pace when it comes to assessing his options. Now back on the AAU circuit he’s not even sure about the things that will be key factors.

“I don’t really know,” Coleman said after a game at the Spiece Run-n-Slam last weekend. “I try to talk to different people to kind of get the gist of different schools. I’m not in any rush.”

Indiana has offered and hosted the 6-foot-2 combo guard a couple times already. Notre Dame is heavily involved as well with a visit under its belt. Head coach Mike Brey watched Coleman work out last fall and kept tabs during the April live period.

Assistant Anthony Solomon has run point on the recruitment in general.

“I talk to coach Brey,” Coleman said. “I try to keep in contact with different kind of coaches. My dad usually talks to them and writes things down and stuff like that. It’s a process.”

Coleman visited South Bend in the fall for the USC football game along with several other top targets across multiple classes. So far he represents the biggest Irish target for the Class of 2015.

“I liked it a lot,” Coleman said. “I also liked the campus. One thing I’m trying to figure out with schools is a good alumni, so after basketball and stuff like that. I liked that a lot about alumni also.”

This summer Coleman plans to make stops at Michigan State and Purdue as his Cathedral High School team participates in some camps. There should be some more trips on tap but those remain unscheduled for now.

More than anything Coleman is trying to familiarize himself with all the major programs within striking distance of Indianapolis.

“I didn’t really know much because I moved down here recently in this area,” Coleman said. “I’m just trying to figure out this whole Midwest thing. Midwest teams, Indiana and Purdue, kind of figure things out and write things down so later on I know what they can offer for me.”

For now Coleman plans to just learn while playing with the Spiece Indy Heat program throughout the summer.

“As I go on I learn different stuff about schools,” Coleman said. “I learn stuff about what I want and how I play.”