Recruiting Report: Ellis Jones (2016)
For 21 games, Ellis Jones and his DSS&T Green Valley Ranch Raptors were perfect. Twenty-one games, twenty-one wins. Alas, the Raptors ran into a buzzsaw in Alamosa in the Class 3A tournament’s Sweet 16, ending their season, but the impressive…
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Continue ReadingFor 21 games, Ellis Jones and his DSS&T Green Valley Ranch Raptors were perfect. Twenty-one games, twenty-one wins.
Alas, the Raptors ran into a buzzsaw in Alamosa in the Class 3A tournament’s Sweet 16, ending their season, but the impressive campaign was fueled by the talents of numerous players. And Jones was certainly no exception.
The 5-foot-11 unsigned point guard averaged 18.1 points, 3.7 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 2.6 steals per game this season for the Raptors. The hard work Jones put the summer before his senior year helped him nearly double all of his totals from his junior season.
“I think I bring strong leadership,” Jones said. “When my teammates are struggling, I’m there to pick our team up and get plays rolling. Coach leans on me for that leadership role and I have been leading DSS&T since freshman year. I think I lead well, and I can distribute the ball and shoot it pretty well.”
Jones was a marksman from 3-point range. He shot 44 percent (40-of-91) from distance and 55 percent from the field overall. The Raptors had a de facto two-point guard backcourt with talented senior Jaydn Michael also handling the ball, so Jones became adept at putting himself in position for good shots by working hard without the ball. He often ran defenders ragged by constantly coming off screens until he had the right look.
Jones has a good change of pace with his dribble and is strong attacking the basket, and he’s a good decision-maker in the open floor. He also rebounds it well for his size.
You can see some Jones’ senior season highlights here.
Jones is still unsigned. He said he has started reaching out this week to schools in the Division II Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, looking to get his name out there to coaches who may not have seen his small-school games. And he plans to meet with his high school coach Jared Lewis this week to develop a plan to reach out to more schools.
Jones is convinced he can play at a high level given his time competing on with such Billups Elite stars two years ago as Luke Neff, Justin Bassey and Jack Buckmelter. Now, he’s just looking for a shot to prove what he can do.
“It’s been a dream of mine to play college basketball since I was 3 years old and was playing with my dad,” Jones said. “It’s always been a goal.”