Texas native Jalen Hale returns home to SMU, bringing his 4-star talent from Alabama. Injuries challenged his Crimson Tide career, but he's ready to ignite the Mustangs' offense.
DALLAS - Jalen Hale is coming home.
The Alabama transfer wide receiver - a native of Longview, Texas - has committed to SMU.
Hale was a 4-star recruit to Alabama, and he spent three seasons with the Crimson Tide program. But the 6-1, 197-pound wideout, who as a freshman in 2023 played in 13 of the Crimson Tide’s 14 games, catching five passes for 148 yards and one touchdown - has unfortunately seen his promising career be derailed by injuries.
He played in five games this season but he did not catch a pass, all of this after sustaining a season-ruining knee injury in the spring of 2024.
Said Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer last fall: “Between he and our medical staff doing an awesome job of pushing forward, our whole team is proud of him, not just me. … He’s still learning as we go. Every rep he’s gonna get more and more confident.
"He’s certainly got a lot of tools and I want to see his growth …’’
But now that growth will take place in Dallas as he and his "tools'' join a Mustangs program that hopes to build on last year’s 9-4 record. (h/t to On3’s Transfer Portal wire for the update.)
Hale, who was the No. 38 overall player and No. 7 wide receiver in the 2023 recruiting cycle, according to Rivals, will get a chance at SMU to team up with another key newcomer as Yannick Smith, the blue-chip East Carolina transfer, is coming here.
Due to the injury background, by the way, Hale could reportedly have three more years of college eligibility remaining.