Jalil Bethea is taking his talents a few miles from South Beach, the Archbishop Wood boys basketball senior announcing Wednesday afternoon he is verbally committing to the University of Miami.
The 6-foot-4 shooting guard, who rose up the national recruiting rankings this summer to be one of the top players in the Class of 2024, opted for the Hurricanes – who last season reached the program’s first-ever Final Four – over Villanova and Kansas.
“It all came down to where I would see myself improving in the future,” said Bethea in 247Sports.com’s livestream of the announcement. “I feel like this is the best stage for me to play on, one of the best coaching staff to play for. I’m glad – I’m glad I picked Miami. I can’t wait, I just can’t wait.”
As a junior in 2022-2023, Bethea led the Philadelphia Catholic League in scoring with 23.2 points per game in helping Archbishop Wood finish 19-9 and reach both the PCL and PIAA Class 6A semifinals. Bethea was named the Catholic League’s Most Valuable Player and was selected to Pennsylvania Sports Writers All-State Class 6A First Team.
Bethea continued to shine playing for Team Final in the Nike Elite Youth Basketball League (EYBL), averaging 18.6 points per game. He was named a five-star recruit by 247Sports.com and ESPN with both ranking him as the seventh-best player in the class.
Bethea’s commit gives Miami three 2024 verbals – the Wood standout joining four-star Austin Swartz from Cannon School in North Carolina and three-star Isaiah Johnson-Arigu from Minnesota’s Totino-Grace High. The addition of Bethea has the Hurricanes’ recruiting class ranked third nationally behind only North Carolina and Rutgers.
In deciding to attend Miami, Bethea continues the pipeline of Philadelphia Catholic League players to Coral Gables.
Neumann-Goretti’s Ja’Quan Newton scored 1,134 points playing for the Hurricanes from 2014-2018.
Bonner & Prendergast’s Isaiah Wong was named Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year last season, scoring a team-high 16.2 points per game as the ‘Canes went 29-8 in and were ACC regular-season co-champs. Wong was selected in the second round of this year’s NBA Draft by the Indiana Pacers.
Miami’s PCL connections also extend to its coaching staff with assistant DJ Irving an Archbishop Carroll grad.
The Hurricanes advanced to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament the past two seasons. In 2022, Miami fell to eventual champ Kansas in the round but last year reached the Final Four with a victory over Texas. In the national semifinals, the ‘Canes lost to Connecticut, which went on to win the NCAA title.
Miami head coach Jim Larrañaga is 255-149 in 12 seasons with the Hurricanes. He is 724-483 overall having previously been head coach at George Mason – leading the Patriots to the Final Four in 2005-06 – Bowling Green and Division II American International.
As a sophomore in 2021-2022, Bethea earned All-PCL third team honors and in the PIAA-6A quarterfinals knocked down 11 3-pointers in scoring 37 points in a win over North Hills. The Vikings advanced the state final, falling to Roman Catholic to end their year 21-8.
In his junior campaign, Bethea had 649 total points and connected on 85 3-pointers, shooting 45.7 percent from beyond the arc. He went for career-high 40 points in a double-overtime victory over St. Joseph Prep’s Feb. 6. Bethea reached 1,000 career points as he scored 31 in Wood’s win over Coatesville in the PIAA-6A quarters.
