Four-Star SF Jalen Shelley sets official visit to Arkansas

Jalen Shelley, a top-50 recruit in the class of 2024, is scheduled to officially visit Arkansas on September 8th. The 6-foot-8, 175-pound Texas native unofficially visited Eric Musselman and the Razorbacks last year.

This will be the uncommitted small forward’s second official visit, along with Louisville. It should be noted that Houston hosted Shelley on campus unofficially.

Last month, the four-star Branson (Mo.) Link Academy senior trimmed his list of schools down to eight — Arkansas, Colorado, Houston, Louisville, LSU, Marquette, Ohio State, and Texas A&M.

According to the On3 Industry Rankings, Shelley is the No. 48 overall prospect in the 2024 cycle. He’s also the No. 16 small forward prospect and the No. 3 player in the state of Missouri. The On3 Industry Ranking is a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.

Shelley talks programs involved

In a previous interview with On3, Jalen Shelley discussed several of the programs involved in his recruitment.

Arkansas: “Coach (Eric) Musselman really knows what he’s doing and gets guys to the league. I really like that about them. It’s a pretty high-level program. With the freshman class they had last year, its pretty promising.”

Louisville: “I feel a real relationship with Coach Kenny Payne. I really look up to him as family, talking to him and stuff. My official visit with them, I really enjoyed it.”

LSU: “What stands out is how consistent they’ve been with me. Just the way they said, if I come, they will let me rock out and play my game. I really enjoy that about them, how they would let me be myself, and they believe in me. I just really like that.”

Marquette: “They’re newer in the mix. They haven’t offered yet but they are trying to get me on an official visit. They’re just saying they really want me there, they really need me. They say they don’t do much of that transfer portal stuff. They like having wings that are really versatile like me and they say one through four basically play all the same positions.”

Scouting Report

The first thing you think of when watching Jalen Shelley is upside. He is a legit 6-foot-7, 6-foot-8 with long arms, wide-set shoulders, and he moves so fluidly. Shelley is a former wide receiver, and you can see that with the way he moves. Shelley has excellent explosion at the basket; he really shows off in transition. The left-hander has a repeatable release on his jump shot. The shot is a bit of a set shot, so you would like to see him develop off movement and off-the-bounce. He is a good straight-line driver to the basket and able to take up so much space with his long strides. Shelley has an upside on the defensive end, given his natural quick-twitch athleticism and long frame. He has given up football to focus fully on basketball. With continued game reps and consistent training, there is a lot of ceiling ready for this one to take. – On3’s Jamie Shaw