Newfield’s Hardison off to Geneseo for college hoops

Jalen Hardison will long be remembered in Newfield for his instrumental role in the boys basketball team’s first-ever state championship in 2022. This winter, he’ll look to create a new legacy at the collegiate level.

Hardison will soon be playing Division III basketball at SUNY Geneseo. It was one of the first schools that were interested in his services. Even with Hardison suffering a season-ending injury in January that cut his senior season short, that didn’t deter the Knights one bit.

“I was able to go up and tour and have lunch with the players,” Hardison said. “The players gave me a tour, I was able to talk with the coach, and we stayed in contact. It wasn’t until after I had gotten hurt that I started to worry about where I would go. [Head] coach Steve Minton kept me in his thoughts for the team and still wanted me on the team. I reached out to him again, and he was down to let me play on the team. He was excited.”

Hardison certainly brings a ton of excitement to a program that is looking to secure its first winning record since 2018 and ultimately capture its first SUNYAC title. His goal is to help the Knights succeed both on and off the court.

“I think I could bring a new energy to the team, especially on defense,” Hardison said. “I’m a very serious person in practice. I’m really serious about winning and staying involved with all the academic things as well as helping my teammates with their academics, whether that be helping them with doing homework or it could even just be helping them with the team as getting up extra shots. I think I can help the team in multiple ways.”

Despite being a newcomer to the team, Hardison will team up with some familiar faces. Outside of Newfield, he played alongside Ithaca’s Justin Yearwood and Corning’s Jackson Casey on multiple AAU teams. It’s safe to say there won’t be any chemistry issues when the trio hits the court in a few months’ time.

“Having other people that I know was definitely another incentive to go to Geneseo,” Hardison said. “They’re both very great players and we’re friends off the court. We’re still close and we hang out. I’m really excited to play with them.”

Hardison played for the Trojans at the varsity level since eighth grade, and there was plenty he achieved during his five-year career. Along with winning a state title, Hardison garnered his fair share of individual accolades, including back-to-back IAC South Small Division MVP and Class C All-State selections and was named the 2022 New York State Class C Player of the Year. He also tallied over 1,000 career points.

Looking back at that coveted state title, Hardison pointed to many key factors that guided the Trojans to glory.

“We stayed together throughout the entire year, but something about the playoffs brought us together even more,” Hardison said. “It showed in the practices. We were playing more seriously. We were making sure we were flying through drills. We were trying to make sure we got everything right and focusing on the little things especially. We also were hanging out with each other outside of practice, watching films together outside of practice, and just staying involved with each other.”

Hardison said that the biggest thing that has improved in his game throughout his time with the Trojans was confidence. There were quite a few people that helped boost that aspect of his game, starting with his coaches. Hardison played under Chris Bubble for the first three years of varsity and under Mike Nembhard for the final two, all with Ricky Stewart as the assistant coach.

“The confidence they had in me gave me self-confidence,” Hardison said. “They said that they believed in what I could do and that I could just keep getting better. It was a great feeling to have, so just having them by my side and supporting me definitely helped me a lot.”

Then there’s his older brother Arthur, who he played alongside at the junior varsity level and his first two years of varsity. He was particularly helpful when Jalen was an eighth grader trying to establish himself with a team filled with upperclassmen.

“When you move up kind of early, there’s gonna be people who disagree with it,” Hardison said. “He was definitely one of the first supporters that stayed with me and would let me know that I was supposed to be playing and that my biggest opponent is myself and that all I should really be worried about is just getting better for the team.”

College basketball will be a new challenge for Hardison. But with a strong sense of self-belief, a serious work ethic, and an elite scoring ability, it will come as no surprise if he takes the Division III scene by storm.