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This is Amelia Rayno's second season on the Gophers' basketball beat. She learned college basketball in North Carolina (Go Tar Heels!), where fanhood is not an option. In 2010, she joined the Star Tribune after graduating from Boston's Emerson College, which sadly had no exciting D-I college hoops to latch onto. Amelia has also worked on the sports desk at the Boston Globe and interned at the Detroit News.
 Follow Rayno on Twitter @AmeliaRayno
Are Gophers in the picture for big-time recruit Tyus Jones?
Posted by: Amelia Rayno under College basketball Updated: October 26, 2011 - 4:33 PM
Tyus Jones at the Peach Jam AAU tournament
Tyus Jones is only a sophomore in high school, but he is nonetheless considered the top prospect in the state and one of the bigger prospects nationally, in his 2014 class.
Naturally, the local D-I school has had its eyes on Jones for some time. But Minnesota is just one of many elite schools whose interest he’s attracted – and apparently one that for now has not made his top-end list.
Jones seems intent on going to the same college as friend and fellow recruit Jahlil Okafor, a 6-10 center from Chicago. In an interview with C2C Hoops, Jones lists four schools he and Okafor are seriously considering: Arizona, Michigan State, Ohio State and Duke. He mentions that Minnesota “of course” has been heavily recruiting him but he doesn’t seem too interested in the school. A lot can happen, of course, between now and 2014.
Notes on Jones:
- The 6-1, 171-pound point guard plays traveling basketball with Howard Pulley.
- Played in the FIBA Americas U16 championship for men in Mexico and had 28 assists in the tournament; his team won the gold medal.
- Competed in the Peach Jam tournament in North Augusta, S.C., and wowed D-I coaches like Michigan State's Tom Izzo, Duke's Mike Krzyzewski and Syracuse's Jim Boeheim; had a 31-point game.
- Scored 18.3 ppg in 13 games during his freshman season at Apple Valley High School.
- Has received offers from Minnesota, Arizona, Iowa State, Michigan State, Ohio State, Baylor and Marquette.
- According to ESPN scouting, Jones has a great basketball IQ and is described as a very mature player who makes the right play at the right time, whether it is a pass, rebound, basket or a steal. He is a pass-first point guard but can score when necessary.
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