Christian Jones - PF - IMG Academy - Arlington, TX - ST. JOHN'S

Quote from: crgreen on June 30, 2012, 06:41:50 PM

Quote from: Poison on June 30, 2012, 11:34:24 AM

Walk on does make sense, but you gotta believe if this kid is good enough to play here than he's good enough to get a ship somewhere else that's also strong too.

Or at the very least, somewhere among D1.

Zags reporting that Jones is mulling over going to  Auburn or  Oklahoma State, but leaning to SJU.   Talk about an "under the radar" recruitment....

Yeah, but getting solid offers.  I'm all for going into this season with thoroughbreds through all roster spots.  Maybe he turns out to be a Montrezl Harrell or Shane Behanan-type if we're lucky?

Or maybe just a Kevin Daley.  Another freak jumper Lav's recruited.  Didn't pan out for UCLA - but did later become an NAIA All American, better known now as "Special K" - the star player for the Globetrotters....

Quote from: crgreen on June 30, 2012, 06:41:50 PM

Quote from: Poison on June 30, 2012, 11:34:24 AM

Walk on does make sense, but you gotta believe if this kid is good enough to play here than he's good enough to get a ship somewhere else that's also strong too.

Or at the very least, somewhere among D1.

Zags reporting that Jones is mulling over going to  Auburn or  Oklahoma State, but leaning to SJU.   Talk about an "under the radar" recruitment....

Yeah, but getting solid offers.  I'm all for going into this season with thoroughbreds through all roster spots.  Maybe he turns out to be a Montrezl Harrell or Shane Behanan-type if we're lucky?

Marcus, I have to commend your optimism. You could turn a pig into a stallion! Lol

Quote from: MCNPA on June 30, 2012, 07:35:28 PM

Quote from: crgreen on June 30, 2012, 06:41:50 PM

Quote from: Poison on June 30, 2012, 11:34:24 AM

Walk on does make sense, but you gotta believe if this kid is good enough to play here than he's good enough to get a ship somewhere else that's also strong too.

Or at the very least, somewhere among D1.

Zags reporting that Jones is mulling over going to  Auburn or  Oklahoma State, but leaning to SJU.   Talk about an "under the radar" recruitment....

Yeah, but getting solid offers.  I'm all for going into this season with thoroughbreds through all roster spots.  Maybe he turns out to be a Montrezl Harrell or Shane Behanan-type if we're lucky?

Marcus, I have to commend your optimism. You could turn a pig into a stallion! Lol

Not saying he will.  Just hoping.  He has offers from legit schools. 

Quote from: paultzman on June 30, 2012, 08:09:12 PM

Quote from: MCNPA on June 30, 2012, 07:35:28 PM

Quote from: crgreen on June 30, 2012, 06:41:50 PM

Quote from: Poison on June 30, 2012, 11:34:24 AM

Walk on does make sense, but you gotta believe if this kid is good enough to play here than he's good enough to get a ship somewhere else that's also strong too.

Or at the very least, somewhere among D1.

Zags reporting that Jones is mulling over going to  Auburn or  Oklahoma State, but leaning to SJU.   Talk about an "under the radar" recruitment....

Yeah, but getting solid offers.  I'm all for going into this season with thoroughbreds through all roster spots.  Maybe he turns out to be a Montrezl Harrell or Shane Behanan-type if we're lucky?

Marcus, I have to commend your optimism. You could turn a pig into a stallion! Lol

Not saying he will.  Just hoping.  He has offers from legit schools. 

Just kidding around!

Quote from: MCNPA on June 30, 2012, 09:02:52 PM

Quote from: paultzman on June 30, 2012, 08:09:12 PM

Quote from: MCNPA on June 30, 2012, 07:35:28 PM

Quote from: crgreen on June 30, 2012, 06:41:50 PM

Quote from: Poison on June 30, 2012, 11:34:24 AM

Walk on does make sense, but you gotta believe if this kid is good enough to play here than he's good enough to get a ship somewhere else that's also strong too.

Or at the very least, somewhere among D1.

Zags reporting that Jones is mulling over going to  Auburn or  Oklahoma State, but leaning to SJU.   Talk about an "under the radar" recruitment....

Yeah, but getting solid offers.  I'm all for going into this season with thoroughbreds through all roster spots.  Maybe he turns out to be a Montrezl Harrell or Shane Behanan-type if we're lucky?

Marcus, I have to commend your optimism. You could turn a pig into a stallion! Lol

Not saying he will.  Just hoping.  He has offers from legit schools. 

Just kidding around!

Lol.  I'm just guessing he's probably at least a little bit better than walkon status like some people are inferring.  Lavin has no need to offer a non-contributor, so I tend to believe the kid probably has a bit more upside than face value.  Nobody wanted Phil Greene out of IMG either, but Lavin and staff were all over him early.  I think Phil is a heck of a player and is only going to get better. 

Quote from: paultzman on June 30, 2012, 09:08:52 PM

Quote from: MCNPA on June 30, 2012, 09:02:52 PM

Quote from: paultzman on June 30, 2012, 08:09:12 PM

Quote from: MCNPA on June 30, 2012, 07:35:28 PM

Quote from: crgreen on June 30, 2012, 06:41:50 PM

Quote from: Poison on June 30, 2012, 11:34:24 AM

Walk on does make sense, but you gotta believe if this kid is good enough to play here than he's good enough to get a ship somewhere else that's also strong too.

Or at the very least, somewhere among D1.

Zags reporting that Jones is mulling over going to  Auburn or  Oklahoma State, but leaning to SJU.   Talk about an "under the radar" recruitment....

Yeah, but getting solid offers.  I'm all for going into this season with thoroughbreds through all roster spots.  Maybe he turns out to be a Montrezl Harrell or Shane Behanan-type if we're lucky?

Marcus, I have to commend your optimism. You could turn a pig into a stallion! Lol

Not saying he will.  Just hoping.  He has offers from legit schools. 

Just kidding around!

Lol.  I'm just guessing he's probably at least a little bit better than walkon status like some people are inferring.  Lavin has no need to offer a non-contributor, so I tend to believe the kid probably has a bit more upside than face value.  Nobody wanted Phil Greene out of IMG either, but Lavin and staff were all over him early.  I think Phil is a heck of a player and is only going to get better.

  phil Greene was a borderline top 100 player out of HS. With a 91 scouts grade from ESPN.

Quote from: MCNPA on June 30, 2012, 10:24:16 PM

Quote from: paultzman on June 30, 2012, 09:08:52 PM

Quote from: MCNPA on June 30, 2012, 09:02:52 PM

Quote from: paultzman on June 30, 2012, 08:09:12 PM

Quote from: MCNPA on June 30, 2012, 07:35:28 PM

Quote from: crgreen on June 30, 2012, 06:41:50 PM

Quote from: Poison on June 30, 2012, 11:34:24 AM

Walk on does make sense, but you gotta believe if this kid is good enough to play here than he's good enough to get a ship somewhere else that's also strong too.

Or at the very least, somewhere among D1.

Zags reporting that Jones is mulling over going to  Auburn or  Oklahoma State, but leaning to SJU.   Talk about an "under the radar" recruitment....

Yeah, but getting solid offers.  I'm all for going into this season with thoroughbreds through all roster spots.  Maybe he turns out to be a Montrezl Harrell or Shane Behanan-type if we're lucky?

Marcus, I have to commend your optimism. You could turn a pig into a stallion! Lol

Not saying he will.  Just hoping.  He has offers from legit schools. 

Just kidding around!

Lol.  I'm just guessing he's probably at least a little bit better than walkon status like some people are inferring.  Lavin has no need to offer a non-contributor, so I tend to believe the kid probably has a bit more upside than face value.  Nobody wanted Phil Greene out of IMG either, but Lavin and staff were all over him early.  I think Phil is a heck of a player and is only going to get better.

  phil Greene was a borderline top 100 player out of HS. With a 91 scouts grade from ESPN.

Phil greene wasn't borderline top 100 on any lists I saw.  Scout had him a 2-star and rivals a 3-star prospect.  He wasn't heavily recruited, but did hold some decent offers.  Real point was that he's another IMG player who I'm hoping is also better than his ranking.

Still can't really piece together the need for another wing/4 hope nobody is on their way out.

Still can't really piece together the need for another wing/4 hope nobody is on their way out.

I don't see Lavin playing Gift ... at all.      The staff played him as little as they could last year, and they only had 6 players.   I think that's very telling.
Personally I like Gift, think he can be a good part-time contributor.   But I think the staff has soured on him.   Just my opinion though, I don't have any sources.    But I think the turnovers and his inability to grasp rotating in the zone kind've doomed him in Dunlap's eyes... and in turn, Lavin's as well.

That's one possible explanation anyway.

http://www.zagsblog.com/2012/06/30/christian-jones-leaning-to-st-johns/

6 foot 8?
The kid will be 7 foot 2 by November at this pace
It mentions he knows Phil. Phil spent 1 yr at IMG. I thought this kid only did his post grad yr there?

Quote from: Chilleb on June 30, 2012, 11:44:55 PM

Still can't really piece together the need for another wing/4 hope nobody is on their way out.

I don't see Lavin playing Gift ... at all.      The staff played him as little as they could last year, and they only had 6 players.   I think that's very telling.
Personally I like Gift, think he can be a good part-time contributor.   But I think the staff has soured on him.   Just my opinion though, I don't have any sources.    But I think the turnovers and his inability to grasp rotating in the zone kind've doomed him in Dunlap's eyes... and in turn, Lavin's as well.

That's one possible explanation anyway.

? ? ? ? ? ?

Gift played 30 minutes a game.  (well, to be fair 29.9 minutes).     Not like they stopped using him at the end of the season - his last 3 games were 30 and 28 vs Pitt and 29 vs Rutgers.  He played more minutes than Amir or Sir Dom.  He was the teams 2nd leading rebounder, 3rd in Scoring behind 2 of the 7 highest scoring freshmen in Division 1.   And as for "all of his turnovers" he was 1/10th of a turnover from LOWEST on the team per game among the regulars - Moe, D'lo, Phil, Sir Dom, and Nuri were all much higher.   Only Amir was lower - at 1.6 per game to Gift's 1.7 (58 in 34 games).   I think his minutes go down, but I think he's an integral part of any success/improvement we see this year.

Lenn Robbins ‏@LennRobbins
St. John's gets a verbal from 6-6 Texas F Christian Jones...Lavin has established the Red Storm as national players in recruiting #stjbb

welcome aboard Christian!!

Lavin working around the clock - gets verbals in the middle of the night.

Welcome aboard Christian!

Not sure if this was posted

Christian Jones 2k10 - 2k11 college recruitment reel

I'm all for taking a flyer on this kid. Looks like a great raw athlete. Throw in a year at IMG, which couldn't hurt his development.

Not sure if this was posted

Christian Jones 2k10 - 2k11 college recruitment reel

damn. that boy can throw down. From everything I've read (which isn't a lot) he boards hard and plays with passion, and can run the break with the rest of our freakishly athletic team. Welcome Chris.

LOVE that play at 3:14.  Shows great adaptability and adjustability with that spin move and composure to balance himself and then finish a difficult shot with his weak hand. He has such a quick first step too he can be used against the zone to catch the ball and make that quick first move to the baseline a la 3:09. His jumper form looks decent as well. They usually do based on highlight reels, but this kid looks like a player.

Welcome Chris. I'm all for having a full roster. At least we can have full scrimmages in practice and actually have a bench this year.