For those who have been following bigbluetopia.com last night or other UK sites then you are aware that Jones commitment to Washington did not seal the deal...
This is everything I have been able to find out at this point:
Jones had second thoughts after a 15 minute phone conversation with Cal...it is unclear on who called who but most believe it was Jones who called Cal because a reporter there stated so. He then later stated he wasn't actually certain who called who because Jones was on the phone with a lot of people.
He hasn't signed his LOI to Washington despite it being there for him to sign and he had all intentions of signing the LOI to the school of his choice like Ross did.
Word is he was all set on choosing UK until the hats were right in front of him and all the emotion of seeing the fans, his best friend and his parents decked out in Washington gear, all of his large family in presence and this made him decide on choosing the close school.
You could tell from his reaction, he seemed as surprised as anyone and wasn't the typical happy camper that most recruits are when they put on their hat of choice.
Jones made a tweet that he is a Husky and then deleted his tweet of his commitment to Washington later on, just adding more fuel to the fire...
There was talk that Cal is in Oregon. This isn't true, Cal is in Kentucky and going to the Derby. Washington's coach maybe there...but he can't meet with him. This is a dead period, you can talk to recruits on the phone but can't meet with them. Not sure on the loop holes in this. Can you have a video conference? Can you talk to them on the phone 50 yards away and be waving at him as you talk...can you hand delivera note with crayon that states "will you be a husky? check yes or no"...not sure...
Terrence Ross states on his Facebook page at least one Terrence will be going to Washington, then later stated he knows as much as we do about it, so stop asking.
Ross left the conference way before Jones did because Ross needed to get back and get some sleep because he is taking the SAT today. So he was out of the loop on a lot of this. I would think this bolds well for UK for Jones to not reaffirm his commitment to him.
Which brings up a significant point in all this. It is clear if it wasn't for Ross going to Washington, Jones wouldn't be. The problem is, most believe Ross will not be eligible next season because of his academics. Some say it is his core classes and will take a significant amount of time to retake to be eligible, others say it is just test scores. So it isn't clear what exactly he needs to do but most believe it will not happen.
So is Jones factoring this in his decision? The longer he holds out on deciding, the better it actually is for UK, if in fact Ross isn't eligible. It should become clearer and clearer of Ross needing to go to prep school or juco. With Jones seeing this, his biggest motivation for going to Washington goes away.
He has about two weeks to sign an LOI, but he doesn't have to sign one. Knight isn't signing one. They can just show up to campus when classes start...of course players are practicing together on campus before this but technically this is when he would have to be there to be eligible to play.
This is another advantage for UK for him to wait. Washington to my knowledge has a full roster now if they can count on Ross and a player recently transferred from Washington to make room for Ross. Which means they will need to clear room for Jones. I can't imagine Washington pushing anyone out until he signs an LOI, which means the longer he waits the less time Washington would have to send someone packing.
Of course who wants to wait on this? I will if it is the only way to get him but pressing refresh a 100 times a day will get old fast...
-Evan Daniels is reporting is very tight between UK and Washington
-Jeff Drummond's tweet late last night: Have reason to believe Terrence may still speaking with the UK staff late tonight. Just had a weird (and brief) comment from him.
-In other news who are your picks for the Derby? I'm going with Awesome Act, just because the word "awesome" is a very "my generation" type of word...what? Who picks horses based upon anything but the name? Of course I don't gamble though...if I did I may actually want to do more research...
My wife is going for Super Saver. She runs a blog as well, hers is on saving money: iamamoneymagnet.com, so of course the horse name is fitting...
For anyone going to the Derby, have fun! Stay dry!
Jones has picked UK!
ReplyDelete