Micah Shrewsberry couldn’t focus solely on practice and couldn’t sit still in his office after its conclusion, instead he paced in an effort to ease his mind. In reality, only one phone call could give him the clarity he needed.
It was 6:00 P.M. Central time and Five-star guard Jalen Haralson was set to announce his commitment down the road at La Lumiere High School at 7:00, but Shrewsberry still didn’t know what the announcement would be. The Notre Dame head coach knew that Haralson and his camp planned to communicate with the three finalists before he announced his decision on a CBS Sports livestream, but the poking around that he and his coaching staff had done throughout the day hadn’t netted them any indications as to what the blue-chip recruit would tell them when he picked up the phone.
Shrewsberry describes Haralson’s decision-making process as one that was kept “as close to the vest as possible.” Haralson says it was an intentional move to preserve the sanctity of the moment and to add some buzz to the final decision. His reasons likely make sense to Shrewsberry, but they made for one of the most stressful days in his young tenure as Notre Dame’s head coach.
“That’s all you can think about, we had no idea,” Shrewsberry said. “It was so nerve racking.”
The recruitment was one that had already been taxing on Shrewsberry and his staff. It started in Haralson’s sophomore year when Shrewsberry was still running the show at Penn State and an unnamed coaching colleague indicated to the former Nittany Lions’ head coach that Haralson wanted to be recruited by Shrewsberry and his staff. Shrewsberry never appeared to believe that he and his staff had a chance at the five star–who already had offers from Maryland and Indiana at that point–but Haralson watched Penn State’s BIG 10 Tournament win over Indiana from start to finish and noticed “the high level sets, the way he coached, and how passionate” Shrewsberry was on the sideline and said “man, who is this this dude?” to himself.
Haralson admits that his recruitment was an intimidating one for that Penn State staff to enter, an Indiana native with Michigan State, Indiana and Michigan pushing after him didn’t exactly have Nittany Lion written all over him. Shrewsberry appeared to believe something similar and “didn’t put all his eggs in that basket,” Haralson said.
“As soon” as Shrewsberry was named Notre Dame’s head coach Haralson saw him walk in to the back gym at Fishers High School. Haralson says he had a “nice little” practice and picked up the phone in the hours following it to hear Shrewsberry along with his staff at a pizza spot ready to throw out an offer and put the full court press on.
From then on, Haralson was Shrewsberry’s top of the board guy. To get this program where he wanted to get it, he had to have him. It was going to take beating out traditional basketball powers like Michigan State and Indiana–which were the two other finalists to land the five-star prospect–but Shrewsberry and company were all but relentless.
So when Haralson called at 6:15 on September 25, Shrewsberry made him cut to the chase.
“Jalen, Jalen, Jalen,” Shrewsberry said when he picked up the phone.
“No small talk,” Haralson said of the call in which he revealed his commitment in the first 15 seconds. “We were all nervous. I was nervous, he was nervous. I just wanted to get to the point.”
The point; “I’m coming coach.” It’s a three-word sentence that Shrewsberry has heard often throughout his life in this business. This one was different, though. It was a breakthrough for his program that he always believed was coming. It was the indicator that the method to his madness was worthwhile. Shrewsberry had just landed the highest-ranked recruit in his program’s history.
Haralson had already called Michigan State coach Tom Izzo and then-Indiana coach Mike Woodson to let them know of his intentions of going elsewhere. This was over. This was final.
“Back away from the phone,” Shrewsberry said before letting out a blistering scream to demonstrate the magnitude of the moment.
“I could tell he was excited,” Haralson said, stating the obvious.
As Shrewsberry hung up the phone, he and Notre Dame assistant Ryan Owens hopped in the car and made the 40 minute drive from Notre Dame’s campus to La Lumiere. The pair was subjected to watching Haralson’s decision on Owens’ phone via the online livestream, but they were intent on getting to La Lumiere to greet their program’s new crown jewel of a recruit.
Less than 45 minutes after Haralson hung up the phone with Shrewsberry, he battled the shades of stage fright that came with making his college decision in front of 30,000 live viewers. Haralson says he “screwed up” by leaving out a few thank yous to those who helped him along his journey and later apologized to the people he missed, but eventually unzipped his jacket to reveal a blue Notre Dame shirt.
“Thank you, thank you,” Owens said while hugging Haralson in the La Lumiere parking lot after the commitment ceremony. “Wow.” Prior to that, Shrewsberry had embraced the five-star with an eight-second, relief-filled hug and declared that he and Haralson would do “big things” together.
“It’s a program changer,” Shrewsberry told Basket Under Review. “If that didn’t go our way then, man, I’m laying under the covers with pajamas on for like two-straight days feeling sorry for myself.”
Haralson stood in the end zone at Notre Dame Stadium flanked by Shrewsberry and his classmate Brady Koehler as Notre Dame football coach Marcus Freeman approached the group. By the end of the interaction, Haralson and Freeman shook hands for over 10 seconds and had a noticeable chemistry.
Freeman has been an outspoken supporter of Notre Dame’s other athletic programs and likely had some idea of what a commitment from Haralson would do for Shrewsberry’s program. The Irish football coach eventually developed a rapport with the Haralson family and opened up to them on the sidelines at a Notre Dame basketball game.
“He just shared his story about what the university meant to him,” Haralson’s mother Shantel said. “It was so much bigger than football. It was so much bigger than basketball. Same thing with Coach Ivey. She shared her story and her conviction and what [the school] means to her, as well. It was all very heartfelt and authentic.”
Ivey—the Notre Dame women’s basketball coach—and Freeman have each built their programs into consistent winners on the backs of recruits of Haralson’s caliber. Shrewsberry knew that if he was going to do the same thing, he had to land a player like that.
Perhaps Shrewsberry’s colleagues didn’t know all the particulars in regard to how meaningful Haralson’s commitment would be for his program, but all they had to do in order to understand was take a look at the high school senior’s rèsumè–which was among the most highly decorated in the country.
Haralson was a McDonald’s All American, consensus top 20 recruit in the 2025 high school class, gold medalist with USA Basketball and five-star recruit. He’d also done it at every level he’d been at. The first stop–Fishers High–was easily conquered with a cumulative 19.7 point per game average over Haralson’s freshman and sophomore seasons, a 20-point per game spring on the EYBL circuit quickly followed. As Haralson went to high school basketball’s most prominent level and ran the show for La Lumiere, he checked the box by averaging 16.3 points, 6.7 rebounds and 5.9 assists per game.
“There’s a reason he had all these accolades,” La Lumiere head coach Pat Holmes told Basket Under Review. “There’s a reason he's got a really, really high likelihood of being an NBA guy because he’s got all the physical tools, but more importantly, he's got all the character tools and discipline and work ethic to get himself there.”
Haralson is one in the long line of Division-I players that Holmes has churned out since becoming La Lumiere’s head coach in 2014, the Indiana prep school coach appears to believe Haralson is in rare air with Isaiah Stewart, Jaren Jackson, Jaden Ivey and Jordan Poole. Those guys are all pros. Haralson is at least in the same stratosphere.
It’s not all that often that this program has an opportunity to land someone like that. Current Washington Wizards guard Blake Wesley is its only one and done in program history. It had never landed a five-star recruit until La Lumiere guard JJ Starling committed to it in 2022.
Notre Dame’s staff told Haralson how important he was to them a long time ago, and he believed them.
“Notre Dame checked all the boxes,” Haralson told Basket Under Review. “It’s the people around here, man. We have the same values, are family oriented and I love that. I said this earlier in my recruitment, ‘it really doesn’t matter the name for me.’ I wanted to go to the school that was gonna grow me on and off the court. ”
When Haralson moved into Notre Dame’s Graham Family Hall, he did the mundane, yet nearly unfathomable for a college basketball player in the NIL era. The Notre Dame freshman reached out to the Notre Dame students who were set to live around him prior to their move in.
Now more than ever, there’s a clear disconnect between power-five athletes and the student bodies that they represent. Not with Haralson, though. No preconceived notions here. No elevated ego that allows him to believe he’s good enough to blow off those around him.
Haralson’s parents didn’t raise him that way, they wanted him to mature enough to develop connections with those around him from a young age. As the Notre Dame freshman describes himself these days, he calls himself a “relationship guy.”
“The dude has never met a stranger in his life,” Shrewsberry said. “When he moved in he was talking to everybody in the dorm. I was like “do you know him?’ He’s like ‘no, but I met this person and talked to this person.’”
“It’s just my personality,” Haralson said. “I just want to be around people and I just want to connect with people and meet new people. Coach Shrews has brought that up before, but I didn’t really think much of it. It’s just me being me.”
Haralson's actions at the beginning of his freshman school year aren’t special, but they’re a microcosm of how he’s differentiated himself from the stigma that comes with a normal five-star recruit.
The Notre Dame freshman will likely still walk around with team-issued gear on or a USA Basketball backpack at times, but the indication is that the Indiana native prefers to be known on Notre Dame’s campus as Jalen from class rather than basketball star Jalen Haralson. He often loosens the room with trash talk in regard to his ability to dominate on the College Football video game. If he wanted constant picture requests and perceived stardom, he would’ve chosen a traditional, high-enrollment basketball power.
Instead, he’s chosen to embrace Notre Dame’s community—in which its last one-and-done’s parents still come to games—and its faith-based culture—which his parents have taken a liking to since his arrival on campus. He’s the rare basketball prospect of his caliber that has embraced this place and its tradition for what it is, small campus and strenuous academics in all.
“He's a good kid,” Haralson’s uncle and trainer Jovon McGraw said. “He doesn’t like being around rif raf, he’s kind of a homebody a little bit, not really a partier. There were some other schools where he could've got more partying in if he went to them. But, [Notre Dame] fits his personality and his family’s values.”
Haralson's mother says that “spirituality” was the foremost thing that she and her husband Art tried to instill in their son as a child. They knew that Haralson would likely take basketball further than most kids, but that he had to have a connection with God to “fall back on” throughout a challenging journey.
If their son had that and a sense of leadership as well as the conviction to do the right thing rather than the popular thing, the Haralsons believed that they’d instilled some of their most important principles within their son.
“I always wanted them to remember that it’s your character that people are going to remember,” Haralson’s dad said. “He’s always been humble, he’s always wanted to earn everything that he’s been given.”
Haralson wasn’t naive enough to believe that he wouldn’t be a factor on this Notre Dame team–which finished 15-18 last season and was the third-consecutive Notre Dame roster that finished below .500 and without an NCAA Tournament berth–but he’s not considering himself the savior of this thing like many have declared him to be. That’s not his temperament. That’s not how he was raised.
Telling the La Lumiere product that wouldn’t have worked for the Notre Dame staff like it would have with plenty of other players of his stature. He needed to vet the fit of the school he was choosing. He also needed to know his coaching staff cared.
“He’s the type of kid that if you believe in him, he’s going to rock with you,” Haralson’s father said. “They trusted his game and he’s going to put it in their hands to bring the program to where it needs to be and help him out in the process of getting his game to where it needs to be.”
With 15:21 to go in Notre Dame’s eventual exhibition win over Butler, Haralson soared through the lane to grab a rebound, fended off freshman guard Azavier Robinson, dribbled it from coast to coast and zipped a pass across his body to Notre Dame sharpshooter Cole Certa in the corner. It’s subtle, but it’s the type of play that demonstrates why Notre Dame believes Haralson could be a transcendent enough player to hear his name called in the first round of the NBA Draft when this is all said and done.
Despite his age, Haralson is the full package. He’s got the positional size and versatility to be effective no matter the roster makeup. He’s got enough vision and command of Notre Dame’s offense for Notre Dame wing Braden Shrewsberry to compare his game to former No. 1 overall pick Cade Cunningham. Haralson says he’s watched plenty of Cunningham’s college tape and has worked to emulate aspects of his game. If he had to pick a player to compare himself to, Cunningham would be the one.
By the end of his year at Oklahoma State, Cunningham seemingly had no choice but to declare for the NBA Draft. Haralson doesn’t appear to be married to the idea that he has to do the same thing as the player he’s modeled his game after, though.
“I don’t want to rush anything,” Haralson said. “There’s a lot of talk about one and done, but when that time comes, it will come. I just want to be the best player I can be until that time comes.”
Perhaps it will be this March or April when Haralson decides that it’s his time, perhaps it will be two or three years down the line. He’s the first in the room to declare that he has “a lot of things” to improve on before he gets to that point. Haralson will be 18 for the entirety of his freshman season and will have just turned 19 years old by NBA Draft day, he’s viewing that as a luxury.
Notre Dame isn’t rushing Haralson to do what Cunningham did, but it’s also not holding him back from what could be his best interest in the future. Shrewsberry and his staff appear to know what type of player they have in the Anderson, Indiana, native--who grew up two hours and 15 minutes from South Bend.
“If we’re doing everything right, he should be here two years at the most,” Shrewsberry said. “I think physically he does [have one and done potential.]”
Shrewsberry and previous Notre Dame head coach Mike Brey’s best teams have always had two point guards. The best Notre Dame team in recent memory was Brey’s 2015 team that had Jerian Grant and Demetrius Jackson running the show. The Irish made the Elite Eight that season and followed it up by going back the next season with Jackson and Farrell splitting backcourt duties.
Who knows how this ends as Notre Dame looks to snap an NCAA Tournament drought, but Shrewsberry heads into 2025-26 with an added level of comfortability. He had it at times last season–particularly when Irish guard Markus Burton was at full health–but he feels as if he’s firmly got two point guards that he can rely on.
Burton is a quick, dynamic playmaker that proved he was an All-ACC level player last season, but Shrewsberry says Haralson can push the pace just as much as the junior guard. The two ball handlers are different, but Shrewsberry says they’ll make each other better by bringing the ball up and playing out of ball screens in the same possession at times. Shrewsberry says Haralson makes Burton more dynamic and fulfills his mission of making those around him better by creating for Notre Dame’s featured catch and shoot guys. At the very least, Shrewsberry says his standout freshman is an "every day guy" that can impact his program with his energy.
Perhaps what will allow Haralson to truly gauge whether he’s a one-and-done caliber player or is the type of player that would benefit from playing two years in college is what he does with his opportunities to do what those catch and shoot guys do. Everyone knows Haralson can orchestrate it with the ball in his hands, but he shot just 24% from 3-point range in his final EYBL season. He shot 37% from beyond the arc on mostly catch and shoot attempts in his stint with Team USA, though.
If Haralson is closer to the latter, he’s got a chance to hear his name called. If he’s closer to the former, then he’s got a decision to make this spring.
“His shooting is going to be the biggest thing,” Shrewsberry said. “The better he shoots it, the shorter he will be here. For us, if he’s shooting it great and he’s not here very long, that probably means we’re having a great season, having a lot of success, so it’s a win-win for both of us.”
Haralson knows the reality that he’ll likely always be evaluated in the lens of whether he’s fit to be an NBA player or not, but he’d be doing this program and its belief in him a disservice by looking ahead to what could happen in late June.
The Notre Dame freshman says his family has always kept him “at bay” over the years and that they’ve always been honest with him–including in situations that he didn’t want to hear the truth–but it’s allowed him to stay humble. Now, those same people are encouraging him to stay where his feet are.
“We don’t want to put the cart before the horse,” Haralson’s dad said. “We definitely want him to enjoy his college playing career. When it’s his time to go to the next level, we will be happy when that time gets here.”
That question needing to be asked to anyone surrounding a freshman is relatively unfamiliar to anyone around this program. The ones that have been asked that haven’t answered the call or lived up to their billing for one reason or another.
Perhaps Haralson can be special enough–and mature enough–to be the outlier to the rule.
“Unlimited,” McGraw said of Haralson’s ceiling. “I think the sky is the limit. I think he can be as good as he wants to be. I think the ceiling will be based off of how hard he wants to push it. I think the sky is the limit.”
