FAIRMONT, W.Va. — Jalen Bridges is staying home.
The 6-foot-7 Fairmont native announced Monday afternoon his commitment to West Virginia University after sorting through an impressive and lengthy list of Division I offers.
“It’s a really great opportunity,” Bridges said. “It’s a great decision for me and my family and I’m playing for the whole state now.”
Bridges, a 2019 graduate of Fairmont Senior High School, remains unsure when he’ll enroll at West Virginia.
Back in early May, Bridges announced he would attend Scotland Campus, a prep school in Pennsylvania.
“They’re trying to see if they can get me enrolled at WVU this semester. If so, I’ll be there the whole year. I might have to wait until the second semester to enroll and if that happens, I’d be at Scotland Campus until December or January.”
In the event he is at Scotland Campus for the first semester, Bridges said he’s unsure if he’d play basketball. However, Bridges believes he’ll redshirt this season at West Virginia either way.
“If I’m at Scotland, I might play, but I might just work out and get ready,” he said.
Bridges had recently announced the final five schools he was considering, a list that also featured Indiana, Xavier, Miami and Alabama.
He said Xavier and Miami were also strongly considered, but ultimately Bridges felt most comfortable 20 minutes north of his hometown. He took a visit to Morgantown this past weekend that helped to finalize the commitment.
“I just felt like I was at home,” Bridges said. “It’s the place I want to be. I’m close with a lot of the players already and close with the staff. They made me feel like I was already a part of the team.
“Being so close to the school these past couple years, I know how they do everything and how they operate.”
WVU currently has one scholarship open for this season, with junior college prospect Ethan Richardson having not enrolled.
Bridges played in four state title games in his Fairmont Senior career. The Polar Bears won the Class AA state championship in 2016 and 2017 and finished runner-up each of the last two seasons.
Considered a three-star prospect by Rivals and four-star prospect by 247 Sports, Bridges won the Bill Evans Award this year as the top player in West Virginia high school basketball. Bridges was a Class AA first-team all-state selection as a junior and senior.
Bridges will likely look to put on muscle before being asked to contribute at WVU, but the versatile forward has an impressive skill set that allows him to play above the rim or away from the basket.
“I really feel like the coaches at West Virginia know what they’re doing,” Bridges said. “I’m not going to say they’ll make me a pro, but they’ll show me what I need to do to be a pro. It’s up to me to do the rest and I feel like I can do that.”
