Jalen Haynes is Coming to Fairfax

By Palmer Johnson

Transfer forward Jalen Haynes has committed to play for Tony Skinn and your George Mason Patriots. He will have two seasons of eligibility left, but he may have to sit out in 2023-24 since he already used his one free transfer. His eligibility for next season has not been confirmed as of now.

https://t.co/YOsCoqnfaU pic.twitter.com/H10IVvm8CS

— George Mason Recruiting (@GMURecruiting) June 3, 2023

The newest Patriot is a 6’8 250 pound forward who can do a lot of damage in the post. In the A10, that size will be enough to overwhelm many thinner defenders.

Haynes spent his freshman season at Virginia Tech before transferring to East Tennessee State for his sophomore season. He did not play too much at Tech, but was one of the focal points of ETSU’s offense.

Before committing to Mason, Jalen visited campus on June 3^rd.

Jalen Haynes is currently on an official visit to George Mason. A 6’8 F out of Fort Lauderdale, Haynes avg’d 14.6ppg & 6.4rpg for ETSU last season playing for new Mason DOBO Mark Bialkoski, earning All-SoCon 3rd team honors. Began his career at Virginia Tech. 2 years remaining. pic.twitter.com/ELgBNGZ5SV

— George Mason Recruiting (@GMURecruiting) June 3, 2023

He must’ve liked what he saw, since his commitment came hours later.

In the 2022-23 season, the transfer forward started 31 out of 32 games for the Buccaneers. He averaged 14.6 points, 6.4 rebounds, 1.5 assists, and .7 blocks per game on 57.5% shooting from the field, 14.3% from three, and 63.8% from the free throw line.

When Jalen gets the ball in the post, he has a good chance of either scoring or passing it to someone after a double team. He has great footwork and knows how to contort his body to get himself a better shot.

While Haynes shot 3 for 21 from three last season, his shot looks nice and I believe he will improve on it. If he can improve his shot to the point where defenders have to cover him out there, I think that is a success.

The former ETSU Buccaneer has experience against Power 6 teams. In the 2022-23 season, his team played against Georgia and LSU, two SEC schools. In those two games, he averaged 17.5 points and 4.5 rebounds while shooting 81.2% from the field. If he can play well against SEC schools, then I think the A10 will not be too big of a step up for him.

Last summer, Jalen played in Miami Pro League, a Pro-Am league in Miami. In one of his games, he was going against a team with Donovan Mitchell and Bam Adebayo, both NBA All-Stars. During the game, the Mason commit got the ball in the post with Bam covering him and shot right over him.

Clip from Chris Myers on YouTube; https://youtu.be/0kXIguNN8YY

Not many college players can say they scored over an NBA All-Star and All-Defensive Team center.

It is surprising to get a transfer of this caliber this late in the transfer portal season. Haynes has both the volume and efficiency of a transfer that you would expect to go in the first couple weeks of the offseason.

Skinn keeps adding to an already deep team. When you look at this team, you’re thinking “Wow, one of these guys has to come off the bench.” The end of the rotation looks much stronger than in past years. The staff has done a better job putting the team together than any of us could have imagined when the sky was falling in March.