Adam Zagoria covers basketball at all levels. He is the author of two books and an award-winning journalist whose articles have appeared in ESPN The Magazine, SLAM, Sheridan Hoops, Sports Illustrated, Basketball Times and in newspapers nationwide.
Calipari Visits 2014 Point Guard Tyus Jones (UPDATED)
Kentucky coach John Calipari paid a visit to 2014 point guard Tyus Jones of Apple Valley (Minn.) on Monday.
“He flew up and watched a practice,” Apple Valley coach Zach Goring told SNY.tv.
“This is his third time up now. They’re really interested in him. ESPN has him as the No. 1 kid in the country. I know [Calipari] likes him, that’s for sure.”
With likely one-and-dones Andrew and Aaron Harrison coming in next season, Kentucky will likely be in the market for a point guard come 2014.
The 6-foot Jones recently cut his list to eight schools — Baylor, Duke, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan State, Minnesota, Ohio State and North Carolina — and Goring said all the schools are equal.
“He hasn’t cut it down from there,” he said. “I would say [Kentucky] is one of eight. Tyus has really kept it pretty close to the vest.”
Goring said Jones may begin taking some more visits in January.
Jones wrote on his USA Today blog that he has two schools in mind for visits.
“The next two schools that I’ll be trying to get down to are Kentucky and Kansas,” he wrote.
“Those are the two that I haven’t been to yet so I really want to see the schools and experience the fans and everything. We’re working on some dates now, but nothing is set. When I figure that out I’ll definitely let you guys know.”
Said Gorman: “We play every Friday night in January and February so I don’t know if he would take a visit or two if he’d take off Saturday morning or wait till the spring.”
Jones and his close friend, 2014 Chicago center Jahlil Okafor, visited Duke together last month and have talked about potentially playing together in college.
Okafor had some nice praise for Duke in his recent USA Today blog.
“I watched Duke beat Kentucky recently and I was really impressed with Mason Plumlee,” he wrote. “When I was down there a couple months back on my visit, I told my dad that he was gonna be Player of the Year. He’s so big and strong and skilled. He’s a beast….
“I think the coach that my classmates ask about the most is Coach K (Mike Krzyzewski). Probably because he’s got the most wins and he’s the most recognizable. They love him.
“I don’t think that I’ll be visiting any schools any time soon.”
Goring said wherever Jones goes, that school will be getting a special player.
“Oh, he’s a tremendous, tremendous player,” he said. “The thing he does so well when you sit down and watch him for a 10-minute segment, the way he runs the game and gets his teammates involved. He makes some of the most clean, crisp passes to his teammates and puts them in a position to succeed and be able to score.
“We have a bunch of shooters on our team, we space the floor and he’ll pitch it to them so they can catch and shoot. We have some guys who can really run and he hits them in stride. I can see why a lot of kids want to play with him.”
Adam Zagoria is a Basketball Insider who covers basketball at all levels. A contributor to The New York Times and SportsNet New York (SNY), he is also the author of two books and is an award-winning journalist and filmmaker. His articles have appeared in ESPN The Magazine, SLAM, Sheridan Hoops, Basketball Times and in newspapers nationwide. He also won an Emmy award for his work on the SNY mini-documentary on Syracuse guard Tyus Battle.
A veteran Ultimate Frisbee player, he has competed in numerous National and World Championships and, perhaps more importantly, his teams won the Westchester Summer League (WSL) championships in 2011 and 2013.
He lives in Manhattan with his wife and children.
Kentucky coach John Calipari paid a visit to 2014 point guard Tyus Jones of Apple Valley (Minn.) on Monday.
“He flew up and watched a practice,” Apple Valley coach Zach Goring told SNY.tv.
“This is his third time up now. They’re really interested in him. ESPN has him as the No. 1 kid in the country. I know [Calipari] likes him, that’s for sure.”
With likely one-and-dones Andrew and Aaron Harrison coming in next season, Kentucky will likely be in the market for a point guard come 2014.
The 6-foot Jones recently cut his list to eight schools — Baylor, Duke, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan State, Minnesota, Ohio State and North Carolina — and Goring said all the schools are equal.
“He hasn’t cut it down from there,” he said. “I would say [Kentucky] is one of eight. Tyus has really kept it pretty close to the vest.”
Goring said Jones may begin taking some more visits in January.
Jones wrote on his USA Today blog that he has two schools in mind for visits.
“The next two schools that I’ll be trying to get down to are Kentucky and Kansas,” he wrote.
“Those are the two that I haven’t been to yet so I really want to see the schools and experience the fans and everything. We’re working on some dates now, but nothing is set. When I figure that out I’ll definitely let you guys know.”
Said Gorman: “We play every Friday night in January and February so I don’t know if he would take a visit or two if he’d take off Saturday morning or wait till the spring.”
Jones and his close friend, 2014 Chicago center Jahlil Okafor, visited Duke together last month and have talked about potentially playing together in college.
Okafor had some nice praise for Duke in his recent USA Today blog.
“I watched Duke beat Kentucky recently and I was really impressed with Mason Plumlee,” he wrote. “When I was down there a couple months back on my visit, I told my dad that he was gonna be Player of the Year. He’s so big and strong and skilled. He’s a beast….
“I think the coach that my classmates ask about the most is Coach K (Mike Krzyzewski). Probably because he’s got the most wins and he’s the most recognizable. They love him.
“I don’t think that I’ll be visiting any schools any time soon.”
Goring said wherever Jones goes, that school will be getting a special player.
“Oh, he’s a tremendous, tremendous player,” he said. “The thing he does so well when you sit down and watch him for a 10-minute segment, the way he runs the game and gets his teammates involved. He makes some of the most clean, crisp passes to his teammates and puts them in a position to succeed and be able to score.
“We have a bunch of shooters on our team, we space the floor and he’ll pitch it to them so they can catch and shoot. We have some guys who can really run and he hits them in stride. I can see why a lot of kids want to play with him.”
