Terrence Jones To Announce Friday At 6:30 EST

• Azubuike24

  

  By far the best recruit left in the 2010 class, Terrence Jones from Portland, Oregon will announce his college choice tomorrow at 6:30 EST. As of now, it seems that Washington is his favorite, but Kentucky and Kansas are in the mix, and until recently, Oregon had a great shot at him.
  
  http://rivals.yahoo.com/Kentucky/basketball/recruiting/player-Terrence-Jones-76118;_ylt=Ajpmg9dx3rdu2tTN_Vuu.3fwOrF_
  
  This would be a big recruit for Calipari and the Cats to get if they can, as it not only gives them a fantastic fit for the DDMO and at the 4 position, it would possibly sway him away from Kansas. If Jones does happen to join UK, it would mean he's the direct replacement for Patrick Patterson and that Kentucky would likely start 4 Freshman again next season. It would also seal the #1 class by a pretty good margin for Calipari.
  
  Rumors tonight are rampant, but honestly this one is a tough read. Many still feel Washington is the favorite, while Kansas has gained a TON of recent momentum after Josh Selby chose the Jayhawks. Then there are those who believe C.J. Leslie's pick of N.C. State may have had to do with Jones wanting to come to Kentucky. We'll see tomorrow afternoon.
• SportsAndLady

  

  Come on KU!!
• ironman02

  Washington.
  
  Jones and Ross are two HUGE commits for the Huskies.
• Laley23

  

  Well if this isnt pure class from Calipari I dont know what is.
  
  http://www.coast2coastrecruiting.net/2010/04/jones-still-not-husky.html
• ironman02

  Thanks for the link, Laley.
  
  Apparently Jones is giving some serious thought to switching his commitment. I'm generally of the belief that recruiting is a dirty business where coaches do pretty much anything and everything to win, but this is even below that. Calling the kid on the day of his announcement and guilting him into reconsidering his decision just isn't cool.
  
  Rumors circulating that Jones gave Calipari a verbal earlier this week, which influenced Leslie's decision to NC State, but then Jones backed out. Who knows if there's any truth to that, but it does seem to make some sense. Still, I think it's pretty classless for Calipari to make that phone call, or lay that guilt trip on Jones.
• Laley23

  

  ^^^I agree. If you lose the battle, call and wish the kid luck.
• GOONx19

  

  Yeah, I'm definitely not too happy if this is true. I mean, I'd love him to be a Cat, but when he makes his choice you let him be. Congratulate him. Wish him luck. Don't try to steal him back. I'm sure this happens a lot, but it doesn't make it better.
• Laley23

  

  GOONx19 wrote: Yeah, I'm definitely not too happy if this is true. I mean, I'd love him to be a Cat, but when he makes his choice you let him be. Congratulate him. Wish him luck. Don't try to steal him back. I'm sure this happens a lot, but it doesn't make it better.

  Yeah, I have no clue how long it goes on, and we dont know the context of the quote in its entirety. But this certainly doesnt paint Cal in a good light either way, given his standing with a lot of people in the college bball community.
• ironman02

  Seeing now that Jones is the one who called Cal, but it seems like everything is just speculation at this point. Jones could have done that to thank Cal for recruiting him, or he could truly be having second thoughts. If Jones did make the call, it makes Calipari look a little better, but that quote is still pretty bad on Cal's part if it's accurate.
  
  Some of the recruiting analysts were expecting a definitive decision sometime tonight since it's still only about 9 PM on the West Coast, but it's looking like this might drag along for a while.
• Azubuike24

  

  Apparently, Calipari and staff were told it was Kentucky he would announce for live. Sure there are wins and losses, Cal has lost many recruiting battles over the years. He wouldn't do this unless he truly felt a certain way, and to be honest, Jones wouldn't be listening or reaching out either.
• mattinctown

  Just read the article about Jones getting a call after he committed, this reeks of no class by UK.
• GOONx19

  

  After getting some more press today it sounds like it was taken way out of context. From what I've heard, Calipari was congratulating him and told Jones that no matter where he would have gone, there would always be fans from many other schools that were upset to miss out on such a great player.
• september63

  

  Calipari smells like old fish in this situation. A desperation move by a coach with ZERO returning talent coming off a disappointing tourney run.
• Azubuike24

  

  Even if Jones initiated the contact? Those who speculate on Knight and others not signing yet, Jones hasn't either. Just saying.
• Azubuike24

  

  Remember when Josh Selby de-committed to Tennessee and people automatically assumed Cal and WWW were in his ear telling him to come to UK? I remember everyone said UK had basically stolen Selby. Turns out, Cal didn't contact Selby until 2 months after that and that Selby said the Kentucky had nothing to do with his de-commitment. Just shows you what can happen when conclusions are jumped to.
• ironman02

  Any actual updates on this situation? I've read a few things, but it seems like a guessing game right now.
• Azubuike24

  

  Who knows. Stay tuned.
• Azubuike24

  

  Rumors floating around that Terrence Jones will sign and apply for financial aid papers from Kentucky and plan to attend the school. He will likely go the route of not signing a LOI, since the deadline to do that ends in a few days. This would pretty much commit him to UK, but still give him a way out if he were to choose to do that. With that said, it confirms what a lot of people have said from the beginning, that despite those around him, it seems Jones wanted to badly play at UK. Should hear something before the week is over, but if Jones joins the mix along with Vargas, you would have to consider Kentucky, once again, a possible Final Four contender, especially with so many other teams losing talent from a year ago.
• Azubuike24

  

  Appears that Jones will sign with someone tomorrow, the last day to sign a LOI. It's still either Washington or Kentucky.
• GOONx19

  

  Jones signed with UK tonight.
• Azubuike24

  

  Amazing. Calipari is amazing. UK is now a Final Four contender yet again. He has replaced 5 possible first round picks with 6 very good players and without a doubt the #1 class in the country. Adding Jones and it's really not that close...
• ironman02

  Did he sign financial aid documents and not the LOI?
• Azubuike24

  

  I believe, like Brandon Knight, he hasn't signed a LOI yet. Not 100% certain though. Then again, kids never have to sign a LOI if they don't want. They can just show up on campus, enroll and play, assuming they were admitted to the school.
  
  The only negative is I don't really like this trend of players doing this. The financial aid documents lock them into a school but it also doesn't bind them to bolting if a coach leaves. Now, I don't want to lock kids in because clearly recruits follow coaches, but since players are clearly starting to use this loophole, you would think the NCAA would do something about it.
  
  It basically is a way around the NCAA rules and it sounds like more and more are going to go this route.
• ironman02

  Thanks, Azubuike. I figured he wouldn't sign the LOI to protect himself if Calipari leaves for the NBA. It looks like that situation is unlikely at this point, but I can understand why Jones, and Knight, would do that.
  
  I'm with you though. It's definitely something that should be addressed by the NCAA.
• Azubuike24

  

  Jones actually did sign a LOI I guess.