Jalen Slawson rises to block the shot
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Diverging Reports Breakdown
Season Review: Jalen Slawson
Jalen Slawson was selected by the Sacramento Kings with the 54th overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft. He was signed to a Two-Way contract, which allows him to play in the G League, while also playing opportunistic minutes with the parent club. In 12 games for the Kings, he totaled just 37 minutes, for an average of 3.1 minutes per game. Despite his size and athleticism, it’s hard to see a path for him to find NBA success in the Kings organization.
The Sacramento Kings selected Jalen Slawson with the 54th overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft, and signed Slawson to a Two-Way contract. The Two-Way contract allows teams to have players develop with heavy minutes in the G League, while also playing opportunistic minutes with the parent NBA club. For Slawson, that ended up being heavily skewed towards G League minutes. Although Slawson appeared in 12 games for the Sacramento Kings, he totaled just 37 minutes, for an average of 3.1 minutes per game.
In his brief appearances with Sacramento, Slawson averaged 0.7 points, 0.6 rebounds, and 0.2 assists. Its unsurprising that Slawson didn’t put up much in the stats department in such limited runs in Sacramento. A more telling indicator is his time with the Stockton Kings.
With Stockton, Slawson averaged 34.4 minutes per game, averaging 13 points, 7.1 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 1.4 blocks, and 1.2 steals. Slawson’s highlights are filled with dazzling displays of athleticism:
But for all his physical gifts, Slawson struggles as a shooter. In the G League, he shot 26.4% from 3 on 3 attempts per game, and shot 47.8% overall.
At 24 years old, despite his size and athleticism, it’s hard to see a path for Slawson to find NBA success in the Kings organization. Mike Brown desperately needed options at the wing this past season, and yet Slawson still didn’t warrant extended run. Slawson performed well enough in the G League, especially for a late 2nd round pick, but I’m not getting my hopes up for him as a piece for Sacramento’s future.
Doubling Down
Mike Bothwell and Jalen Slawson were selected in the second round of the NBA draft by the Sacramento Kings. Bothwell signed a summer league contract with his hometown Cleveland Cavaliers. Both were consensus first-team all-conference selections and finalists for the Lou Henson National Player of the Year Award. The Paladins upset Virginia in the first round, 68-67, before falling to San Diego State, 75-52. It was the first time Furman had made the NCAA tournament since 1980, and the program’s first tournament victory since 1974.“Nobody had to beg them to stay,” Furman head coach Bob Richey says. “There was no wavering. They said this is what we’re doing. Let’t go get it done.’’ “I could see there was something special in the program,’ Bothwell says of Furman. � “Every time I was at the game, I would still enjoy my time here.”
Jalen Slawson ’23 and Mike Bothwell ’23 enter the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida, during the first round of March Madness. The team reached new heights in 2022-23, which included Slawson being selected in the second round of the NBA draft by the Sacramento Kings and Bothwell signing a summer league contract with his hometown Cleveland Cavaliers. Slawson was the first Paladin chosen in the draft since 1984 when George Singleton went to the Los Angeles Lakers in the third round. / Jeremy Fleming
Mike Bothwell ’23 and Jalen Slawson ’23 Returned to Furman for a Final Year of Basketball, Leading to a Magical Season That Fans Won’t Soon Forget
By Vince Moore
MIKE BOTHWELL ’23 AND JALEN SLAWSON ’23 DIDN’T HAVE TO RETURN TO FURMAN FOR A FIFTH SEASON OF BASKETBALL, WHICH WAS AVAILABLE BECAUSE THEIR PLAYING CAREERS HAD BEEN DISRUPTED BY THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC.
They were good enough players that they could have entered the NCAA transfer portal and finished their careers in a Power 5 conference like the ACC or Big Ten. They could have chosen to get a head start on their professional careers, either in the U.S. or overseas.
Instead, Bothwell and Slawson returned to Furman to provide one final push to a program that has been in steady ascendance for a decade. And the roommates and best friends accomplished everything they hoped for during the 2022-23 season, leading the Paladins to a school-record 28 wins and a long-awaited berth in the NCAA tournament, where they upset Virginia in the first round, 68-67, before falling to San Diego State, 75-52, in the second.
It was the first time the Paladins had made the NCAA tournament since 1980, and the program’s first tournament victory since 1974.
“We were a younger team this year, and it was the first time (Bothwell and Slawson) had to provide the majority of the leadership,” Furman head coach Bob Richey says. “They knew they had to do the things they were asking the younger guys to do, and they did it every day. You could see their growth as players and as leaders throughout the season.”
A STRONG CULTURE
Bothwell and Slawson’s individual seasons were sublime. Slawson was the Southern Conference Player of the Year (15.6 points, 7.1 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.5 blocked shots per game), and Bothwell was the league’s leading scorer at 17.7 points per game. Both were consensus first-team all-conference selections and finalists for the Lou Henson National Player of the Year Award.
For the record, finishing their careers at another school was not an option for either Bothwell or Slawson. They did give consideration to their pro prospects after the 2021-22 season, but their love for Furman and their desire to push the basketball program to a higher level of achievement convinced them to return.
“I never gave a thought to any other college,” Bothwell says. “No knock on the people who have done that, but the culture here at Furman is really strong, and there’s no other place I would want to play. It didn’t make sense to look at other schools.”
“Nobody had to beg them to stay,” Richey says. “There was no wavering. They said this is what we’re doing. Let’s go get it done.”
Furman’s breakthrough season was nearly a decade in the making, and there was no guarantee Bothwell and Slawson would be at Furman to help make it happen. Before he made his initial visit to campus, Bothwell says he was sure he wouldn’t be attending the school. It was a long way from his hometown of Cleveland Heights, Ohio, and he didn’t know much about the basketball program. But all that changed after that first visit, especially when he met the Paladin players.
“All those worries went away immediately,” Bothwell says. “I could see there was something special going on in the program. I told myself that even if we didn’t win a game, I would still enjoy my time here.”
Furman was closer to home for Slawson, who grew up in Summerville, South Carolina, so he was more familiar with the direction the program was headed. “Every school talks about its culture and how great it is, but once you visit you can tell whether it’s genuine or not,” he says. “I knew right away the culture at Furman was real.”
CLOSE FAMILIES
It didn’t take long for Bothwell and Slawson to become close friends. They texted and talked on the phone regularly after signing with the Paladins, and they discovered they would be roommates once they arrived on campus. They got along so well they remained roommates throughout their five years at Furman.
The Bothwell and Slawson families are close, too. Their mothers texted almost every day, and Bothwell’s mother, Karen, stayed with the Slawsons whenever she was in Charleston. Slawson’s father, Tom, a former Citadel basketball star who works for Palmetto Lincoln in Charleston, even gave Karen a good deal on a car.
Bothwell and Slawson did more than just play basketball at Furman. They made it a point to attend games of every sports team on campus. They watched football games on Saturdays, setting up two TVs in the living room, with Slawson learning to pull for Bothwell’s Ohio State teams. They also played a lot of video games their first couple of seasons before Richey suggested that time might be better spent in the gym, which turned out to be solid advice.
It is not lost on Richey, Bothwell or Slawson that one of Furman basketball’s most painful moments ultimately led to the celebration of last season. That moment occurred in the 2022 SoCon tournament championship game when Chattanooga heaved a desperate, last-second shot from far beyond the three-point arc to beat the Paladins, 64-63, and keep them out of the NCAA tournament.
“The pain I felt for Alex Hunter (’22), Conley Garrison (’22) and Rob Swanson (’22), that being their last memory at Furman, that sealed the deal for me to return,” Slawson says. “I wanted to come back and rewrite the story for them.”
Bothwell agrees. “Everything happens for a reason,” he says. “If that (Chattanooga) shot doesn’t go in and we make the tournament, who knows if the two of us would still be here? But when we lost like that, it made us even hungrier to win the conference championship. It’s not a negative experience if it teaches you how to handle adversity.”
A $40 million impact For the 2023 NCAA tournament, Furman gained $40.1 million worth of media value, according to an analysis conducted by The Nielsen Company, which factored in social media engagement, TV coverage, and editorial and news broadcast mentions of Furman. That means Furman would have had to spend the same amount on paid advertisements to reap a comparable benefit. Since March 1, the @FurmanPaladins accounts have had over 3 million impressions on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. During the month of March, engagement with @FurmanPaladins main account pages spiked: A 726% increase in page visits, 930% increase in mentions and 191% increase in impressions on Twitter
An 800% increase in page visits and a 447% increase in new “likes” on Facebook
A 117% increase in profile visits and 258% increase in new follows on Instagram
WHO COULD HAVE IMAGINED?
Richey says there is no doubt what Bothwell and Slawson have meant to Furman basketball. They are the program’s winningest players (with 116 victories) and the leaders of what is arguably Furman’s greatest team.
Bothwell’s 2,016 career points are the fourth-highest total in school history, and he is among the top 10 in assists and steals. Slawson ranks 18th with 1,509 points, third with 192 steals and is tied for second with 182 blocks. He joins Jonathan Moore and George Singleton as the only Paladin players to total at least 1,000 career points, 600 rebounds, 200 assists and 100 blocked shots.
“They both really embody what this program is all about,” Richey says. “You can see how they developed as players, how they became more mature. They’re kids of high character, and they both love Furman. They leave here as champions.”
Bothwell and Slawson say they couldn’t have imagined what was in store for the Furman program when they signed their letters of intent. Who could have predicted they would play in front of sold-out crowds in Timmons Arena and host games at Bon Secours Wellness Arena in downtown Greenville? Or that they would earn a trip to the NCAA tournament and upset Virginia in a thrilling game that would give the Paladins a burst of national exposure?
“Those are things that Coach Richey couldn’t have pitched to us as recruits because he couldn’t see that far into the future,” Bothwell says. “That’s the best thing about all of this, that we’ll be able to come back and see what we helped build. Hopefully, it will be a tradition that just continues to grow and break barriers. It was good before us, and we’ve helped make it even better.”
Source: https://sports.yahoo.com/video/jalen-slawson-rises-block-shot-002546368.html