Bio Blast: Notre Dame forward Jalen Haralson

Transfer portal season is almost officially here. Players all over the country have been announcing their intentions to find a new home over the last couple of weeks. That will kick into overdrive once the window opens on Tuesday. Some of the top talents in the sport will be wearing a different jersey in 2026-27.

One of those players is Notre Dame forward Jalen Haralson. News broke last Thursday of Haralson’s plan to go portaling. According to Jacob Polacheck of KSR+, Kentucky is expected to be among the schools with some interest in Haralson, a former top 20 recruit from the class of 2025 with three years of eligibility remaining.

Haralson, who turns 19 this month, will have plenty of suitors in the portal this offseason. On3 ranks the 6-foot-7 wing as the 14th-best available transfer (and top-ranked small forward) expected to hit the portal so far. Let’s get to know him a little bit better in another edition of KSR’s Bio Blast.

From McDonald’s All-American to leading scorer

Haralson was a prized high school recruit out of La Lumiere School (IN) after spending his first two years at Fishers (IN). Rivals ranked him 20th overall with four-star status as a senior. A native of Anderson, IN, his three college finalists were all within 3.5 hours of his hometown: Notre Dame, Michigan State, and Indiana. The Fighting Irish ended up winning out, but Haralson also held offers from the likes of Duke, Kansas, Arkansas, Alabama, Illinois, and plenty more.

A 2025 McDonald’s All-American, Haralson immediately became the highest-rated prospect to choose Notre Dame in modern program history. He also gained international experience with Team USA, leading the Americans to a gold medal in the FIBA U17 World Cup in 2024 while averaging 11.1 points and four rebounds per outing. Haralson’s commitment was huge for head coach Micah Shrewsberry, who produced losing seasons in his first two years in charge. But even with Haralson in the fold, Notre Dame still went 13-18 in 2025-26.

Haralson has a ton of length and is adept at attacking the paint from the wing.

Very good ball handler for his size and is a great decision maker off the PnR.

Where does he end up next? 🤔🤔🤔 https://t.co/hAqaziWxEI pic.twitter.com/vslrfYeGsh

— The Portal Report (@ThePortalReport) April 2, 2026

The lack of team success certainly wasn’t due to Haralson, though. Markus Burton (also in the portal) was the team’s best player through 10 games before an ankle injury ended his season in early December. Notre Dame then turned to the freshman Haralson.

Across 15 games played during ACC play (he sat out three games due to his own ankle injury), Haralson averaged a team-high 17.4 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 2.4 assists in 27.9 minutes per contest. He shot 53.6 percent from the field, 29.4 percent from deep on low volume, and 67.3 percent from the free-throw line. It was enough for him to receive an All-ACC Honorable Mention nod as a rookie. Haralson effectively served as Notre Dame’s jumbo point guard once Burton went down.

What the advanced stats say about his game

Offensively, Haralson didn’t have trouble scoring despite his three-point limitations. He did not take many threes as a freshman, shooting just 5-25 across 27 games throughout the entire regular season. But he makes up for it by getting into the paint with ease and making a living at the free-throw line. During ACC play, he attempted 7.5 free throws per game, which ranked in the 99th percentile among all DI players, per CBB Analytics.

Haralson also graded out in the 99th percentile in terms of usage percentage. His impressively high mark of 32.7 percent in ACC games was complemented by efficient scoring inside the arc, specifically in the paint. His average of 10.7 points per game in the paint against ACC competition was another figure that ranked him in the 99th percentile. He did a formidable job as the fill-in point guard, but not without turning the ball over 2.9 times per game (3rd percentile).

While he grades out as a high-level offensive rebounder, the same can’t be said about his defensive rebounding — or his defensive numbers in general, at least from an advanced stat perspective. He does not generate steals or block many shots.

There are clear limitations to his game on both ends of the floor, but what Haralson does well, he does at a very high level.

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