Andrew Jones - 5 Star PG commits to Texas

[tejasrulz]

Appears the win over NC is paying dividends! Smart lands a good one.

https://twitter.com/EvanDaniels/status/676485917989724160?ref_src=twsrc^tfw

 

[Coal Harbour]

Add Andrew to the (2) 4* commits as Coach Smart is improving this roster at a rapid rate.  Excited for the future of the program.

 

[BudreauReye]

6'-4" point guard!  I like the fact that we are getting some taller guards than in years past.  Some folks say you win with your guards ... I say that the taller the guards are the better if they are quick, can shoot, and play defence.  Don't know if you have noticed that we also have two true small forwards for the first time that my poor remembory can cogitate.  Now if we can only get them some quality playing time.  Nothing like some good and tall guards, but good small fowards are hard to find.  I also like the fact that we are seeming to recruit bigs that are lithe, athletic, and can run.  Now, if we can get Mr. Jarrett Allen from St Stephen's Episcopal here in Austin to just come on down, then I think we gonna have ourselves a fair to middlin' decent recruiting class for next year! 

Don't know if you have heard, but tommorrow night  during the Applachian State game, Texas will honor Tom Penders' BMW (Lance Blanks, Travis Mayes and Joey Wright) 1990 Elite Eight Team, twenty-five plus one year late.  As the article cited below states, probably the second most important men's basketball team in the history of The University of Texas.  If you live in the Austin area, be there or be square, to honor this great team and help the Horns prepare for upcoming games with Stanford and UConn not to mention forthcoming Big12 play. 

Click the linky for the article.  There should be a panel pop up with an option that allows you to proceed to the article for free even if you are not a paying subscriber to the Statesman.  If it does not work on your phone, try it on your 'puter.

http://www.hookem.com/columns/bohls-texas-decision-to-honor-tom-penders-special-1990-team-long-overdue/

 

[BudreauReye]

I kinda cannot help myself ... there are better videos of young Mr. Jones out there in WWW Land, but this one is well worth watching, if for nothing else, the retro music ... enjoy! 
 

 

[BudreauReye]

Here is another video with higher definition video production "values" ... and a lot of AAU lay-ups and jump shots.  Can't say much about the audio ...  you cannot hypnotize ME!  you cannot HYPnoTIZE ... ME! ... You CANnot ... You canNOT ... YOU ...  Woo HOOHoooo .......

 

[BudreauReye]

And, of course, we do not want to get TOO enthused, prematurely, about our upcoming basketball recruiting prospects, so, I shall quote brotherTexoz of the BARKING CARNIVAL clan of Texas Fans United ...

"I don't want to set expectations for 2017 too high, but I think we win the NCAA championship, and the NBA championship, and maybe the World Curling Championship and call me crazy, but mabe even the Quidditch World Cup."


 

 

[Sirhornsalot]

And, of course, we do not want to get TOO enthused, prematurely, about our upcoming basketball recruiting prospects, so, I shall quote brother Texoz of the BARKING CARNIVAL clan of Texas Fans United ...

"I don't want to set expectations for 2017 too high, but I think we win the NCAA championship, and the NBA championship, and maybe the World Curling Championship and call me crazy, but mabe even the Quidditch World Cup."

He lost me at Quidditch World Cup. Everyone knows the new Potter kid will be Griffindore's new seeker. No one can deal with that stuff. I call BS.

 

[Juan]

— Twitter API (@twitterapi) November 7, 2011

 

[BudreauReye]

He lost me at Quidditch World Cup. Everyone knows the new Potter kid will be Griffindore's new seeker. No one can deal with that stuff. I call BS.

Listen Sirhornsalot!  Take care of what you speak of ... The University of Texas IS the WORLD CHAMPION of Quidditch!!! 

Now there weren't no Quidditch when I were a kid.  In West Texas, we played Jack Knife.  You stood six feet a part, or how many ever feet felt right.  You took turns smacking your jack knife down into the ground as close to the feet of the of the other feller as you could.  It was all just bluster.  Most of us couldn't stick a jack knife in the ground from three feet or twenty feet, much less through the edge of the sole of the shoe of your obstinate opponent, which was required to score a win in Jack Knife! ...which, quite frankly, I do not ever remember ever happening.  However, I do have a cousin who suffers to this day from "Stiff Toe Syndrome" ... he never seemed to be able to know when to call "OVER" to a game of Jack Knife.

Now, this is a jack knife like from my childhood.  They had different sized blades.  It was kind of like you chose the blade according to how serious you wuz.  Bigger blade ... more legitimacy.  I have to admit that I was not a very good Jack Knife player.  To this day, I still like my toes.

 

[Sirhornsalot]

Listen Sirhornsalot!  Take care of what you speak of ... The University of Texas IS the WORLD CHAMPION of Quidditch!!! 

Now there weren't no Quidditch when I were a kid.  In West Texas, we played Jack Knife.  You stood six feet a part, or how many ever feet felt right.  You took turns smacking your jack knife down into the ground as close to the feet of the of the other feller as you could.  It was all just bluster.  Most of us couldn't stick a jack knife in the ground from three feet or twenty feet, much less through the edge of the sole of the shoe of your obstinate opponent, which was required to score a win in Jack Knife! ...which, quite frankly, I do not ever remember ever happening.  However, I do have a cousin who suffers to this day from "Stiff Toe Syndrome" ... he never seemed to be able to know when to call "OVER" to a game of Jack Knife.

Now, this is a jack knife like from my childhood.  They had different sized blades.  It was kind of like you chose the blade according to how serious you wuz.  Bigger blade ... more legitimacy.  I have to admit that I was not a very good Jack Knife player.  To this day, I still like my toes.

If you ain't Potter, then you're just Potter bait. lol

 

[BudreauReye]

Potter bait!

That's what we used for huntin' channel cats!

 

[More Cowbell]

PostScript: We need to hire whoever did this to do in-game music ... It is so bad, I love it!

D.J. Mel better raise his game at Club Erwin.

 

[BudreauReye]

PostScript: We need to hire whoever did this to do in-game music ... It is so bad, I love it!
D.J. Mel better raise his game at Club Erwin.

I appreciate your validation!!! 

 

[Sirhornsalot]

Potter bait!

That's what we used for huntin' channel cats!

He he  I remember the days of stinky hands, Catfish Charlie combined with peanut butter. Used to rake them in with that combo.

 

[Sirhornsalot]

Anyhoo, back to the big, big news. This is huge for Texas. There's a ton of momentum for the program right now with this news and the big win over NC.

How many more spots are there in this class? And who are we thinking we'll get?

 

[BudreauReye]

He he  I remember the days of stinky hands, Catfish Charlie combined with peanut butter. Used to rake them in with that combo.

My first "professional" job was back in my home town.  One of my running buddies and his wife owned a clothing store for the "stylish younger set".  At first, I wondered why he would want to do that.  I figured it out pretty quick.  On Saturday mornings, I would hang out at his and his wife's store, shooting the bull and drinking coffee ... of course, it did not take me too many Saturdays to figure out that all of the pretty young women from around the area would make a shopping appearance on said Saturdays.  My friend did not do too well in school ... but, my estimation of his intelligence did go way up. 

After his store failed as an economic endeavor, as small town shops are wont to do,  he opened up a bail bonds business.  After a few weeks of not seeing him, we crossed paths and he asked me why I did not stop by to shoot bull and drink coffee on Saturdays anymore ... I must say that at that time, my estimation of his intelligence went way down! 

Anyway, we had the most efficient way to fish for channel cats ever devised by mankind short of dynamite.  We would get in his boat and cruise the lake checking our trot lines ... of course, a six pack or two did not hurt either! 

 

[BudreauReye]

Anyhoo, back to the big, big news. This is huge for Texas. There's a ton of momentum for the program right now with this news and the big win over NC.

How many more spots are there in this class? And who are we thinking we'll get?

I'm too lazy to check right now, but 247 Horns has a recruiting board that shows offers and a lot of other good info.  I am not sure how good the info is ...

http://texas.247sports.com/Season/2016-Basketball/Offers

you can check it out without being a subscriber to the site.  Jarrett Allen was offered by Texas a long time ago.  For a long time he was considered a heavy Texas lean by some folks.  Of course, that was before he blew up and started getting attention from programs like Kentucky.  He is now considered cool toward Texas, but I would not be surprised if Texas were in it at the end.  There are a lot of highly ranked players on that list, and, as you say, if we can continue the momentum from beating UNC, it seems that Shaka should be able to pick up players to fill whatever he considers our needs ... we need some input from somebody who follows this more closely.

I do not know if bierce is still around ... he seems to have stuff like this internalized in his punkin head.

PostScript:  This chart shows Allen's perceived leanings ...

http://247sports.com/PlayerInstitution/Jarrett-Allen-at-St-Stephens-Episcopal-89354/CurrentExpertPredictions

 

[BudreauReye]

Here is a good article on Jones, his recruitment, and the state of Texas basketball recruiting ... good job by Cody Daniel over at Burnt Orange Nation (Linky to original article).  It seems very clear to me that this young man is very special and will be very special for the Longhorns.

Andrew Jones’ commitment brings versatility to Texas; optimism to recruiting trail

By Cody Daniel on Dec 14, 2015​

"Andrew Jones' commitment is the in-state recruiting splash Shaka Smart and Texas needed

The Shaka Smart era at Texas was supposed to usher in a new sense of energy and enthusiasm surrounding Longhorns basketball, after such feelings surrounding Rick Barnes’ tenure had long came and went. This extends beyond what ultimately happens on the hardwood, as luring top-quality talent to Austin hasn’t been the most successful task over the recent years, especially when it came to keeping in-state talent from wandering.

These are two challenges Smart has welcomed with open arms, and while he’s only been at the helm for just over eight months, with only nine games under his belt, they’re challenges at which he’s finding convincing success.

It began with the recently past weekend, still fresh in the minds of the burnt orange nation. Texas had seen its share of early-season struggles, dropping three of its first eight games, but the No. 3 North Carolina Tar Heels were in town, and more importantly, so was elite in-state combo guard, Andrew Jones, who was there on an official visit. Despite Smart having already received commitments from four-star Houston point guard, Jacob Young, and four-star Georgia big man, James Banks, Smart still hadn’t made that big recruiting splash that’s demanded at Texas.

Less than 48 hours after a Javan Felix buzzer-beater lifted Texas over UNC in one of the most exciting college basketball games this season, Smart made that recruiting splash with the news that four-star Irving MacArthur’s Andrew Jones committed to Texas over powerhouses Arizona and Louisville.

Now although this is the fourth four-star recruit Smart has seen commit to him and the Longhorns, Jones’ commitment is far-and-away the most impactful of the bunch. Sure, the simple fact that Smart has already landed a near handful of four-star recruits in such short order without actually proving his worth at Texas speaks volumes to the long-term success we can come to expect from him, regardless of where the recruit’s hail from. But when you consider the "elite" label that’s widely been placed on Jones – he’s a borderline five-star talent with realistic McDonald’s All-American potential – along with him staying in state to play for Texas, it’s equates to a victory in a significant recruiting battle that Texas was long viewed as the underdog in – Arizona has consistently led in Jones’ Crystal Ball projections.

The key term in all of this is "in-state." Texas has cemented itself as a recruiting hotbed for elite high school talent. Since 2010, the Lone Star State has produced 63 ESPN 100 recruits; 19 of which were listed as five-star recruits. The Longhorns have lured only eight from this group to Austin (two being Sheldon McClellan and Julian Lewis, who both transferred). In his first true recruiting cycle, Smart has already landed Jones, a future consensus five-star recruit, which is of great value because of the message it relays – the 40 Acres is as good a home as any for the top talent Texas produces.

And in the short-term, which would ultimately radiate into next season’s recruiting efforts, is the impact Jones’ commitment may have on the future decision of Austin-native and five-star power forward, Jarrett Allen. With just Young and Banks on board, Texas had a marginal 2016 recruiting class, at best. The addition of Jones boosts Texas to No. 12 nationally, with the top ranked class in the Big 12, per 247Sports. Now that the proof is in the pudding that Smart can land top talent, if Allen, too, were to elect to stay home and play for Texas, the Longhorns could ultimately finish with a top five class in 2016.

But while Smart now has his first statement victory, and first significant recruiting splash, recruits like Allen may hold off to see what kind of season-long and postseason success Smart can muster in his first season in Austin. Keep in mind, Myles Turner didn’t commit in 2014 until April 30.

What Andrew Jones brings to Texas

While Smart and Texas hope Jones’ commitment provides a domino effect for future in-state targets like Allen, let’s not fail to give worthy praise to the newest Longhorns, whose versatile skillset will be beneficial from day one.






With Texas already set to have Roach and Young, and possibly, but unlikely Isaiah Taylor, Smart doesn’t necessarily have a need for another point guard. But this is where Jones can be of such value. He’s essentially a position-less wing, capable of running the show himself in half-court and fast break settings, operating as a secondary ball handler, or simply looking to score, which he does effectively attacking the rim, off the dribble, and from deep. And with a lanky 6-4 frame and plenty of quickness, Jones can guard each perimeter position well, which in itself will provide minutes.

I envision a likely starting lineup of Roach, Jones, and Davis, which would provide Texas with an explosive and capable guard running the offense, much of the same with more scoring instincts in Jones, who would score in a multitude of ways, while Davis awaits around the arc and reaps the benefits of Roach and Jones’ assertiveness. And all of which have lock-down potential defensively, which should provide Texas the advantage in the majority of its perimeter match ups next season.

Jones has been a case of a rapid riser, as he was unranked before the summer and quickly found himself as one of the best guards in the nation and a debatable five-star product. As is, Smart landed a jewel in Jones. But if his ascension continues at the rate it has over the past six months, Texas will play host to one of the very best the high school talent pool has to offer for the 2017 season."

 

[BudreauReye]

Thirteen basketball scholarships are allowed in D1 Men's basketball.  I cannot seem to determine whether there are annual limits on how many may be offered each year.  Assuming that there are no such limits, Texas has twelve players on scholarship this year - Javan Felix, Demarcus Holland, Prince Ibeh, Conner Lammert, Cameron Ridley are all scheduled to graduate.  Assuming that Isaiah Taylor turns pro a year early.  That leaves Texas with seven scholarships available for next year - six if Taylor decides to come back for his Senior year. 

Texas has three commits so far for next year, so that leaves us either three of four roster spots to play with.  We have two guards and one center coming and we are losing two centers and a power forward,so we will probably be a guard/perimeter oriented team next year.  However, I expect that Coach Smart, with so many slots available, will take the best players he can get, and if he can get more better bigs, the composition of next year's roster might just surprise.  Depending on who he gets, coach might also reserve one or two of those scholarships for the next year as the above cited article intimates.