George Mason commit Jalen Jenkins continues to earn high praises

Jalen Jenkins gave a verbal commitment to come to George Mason back in June, and while we still don't know if the 17 year old will attend prep school for a postgraduate year before coming to the program, he continues to earn high praises this summer. Zach Braziller of the NY Post is a mainstay in the NYC area hoops scene and has covered Jenkins a lot. He had some words about Jenkins in his article yesterday as he gave a few player evaluations:

F Jalen Jenkins, Cardinal Hayes (New Heights)
If he hadn’t verbally committed to George Mason in June, a swarm of major Division I schools would be after the 6-foot-7 small forward, who may do a postgraduate year before heading to Mason because he is a year young. The former Cardinal Hayes standout’s ability to bang inside, lead the break, shoot from deep and facilitate are qualities seldom seen in players his size. Mason head coach Paul Hewitt is getting a big-time recruit and an even better kid in Jenkins.

Seems as though Jenkins has the potential to become Paul Hewitt's biggest recruit at George Mason to date. The 6'7" has a wide variety of skills and is also known as his team's defensive anchor:

The George Mason verbal looked like an absolute steal for Paul Hewitt and company with his play in the 17U tournament.  A face-up 4, he showed the ability to hit open jumpers and get to the basket from the wing.  Jenkins also was able to finish at the rim with either hand.  Defensively, he anchored the New Heights team all the way to the 17U title game with his rebounding and shot blocking.

It would be great if Jenkins came to Mason in the fall and redshirted for a season but I'd imagine it's difficult to sell that scenario to a 17 year old kid. If he came this fall and didn't redshirt I can't imagine he'd get many minutes on what would be a crowded roster. Hopefully we will hear some news on what is happening soon as the fall semester is approaching.