Prospect Intro: Jalen Cone (2020)
Growing up with two older brothers, one Madison Cone who has committed to play football at Wisconsin and Drew Cone the oldest who is playing basketball at Sandhills CC, class of 2020 PG Jalen Cone has been around high-level athletes…
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Continue ReadingGrowing up with two older brothers, one Madison Cone who has committed to play football at Wisconsin and Drew Cone the oldest who is playing basketball at Sandhills CC, class of 2020 PG Jalen Cone has been around high-level athletes his whole life. His dad Harold Cone played at UNC-Greensboro during the mid-1980’s.
Cone is naturally a point guard, at 5-foot-10 he is an elite level athlete, he can facilitate the fast break, rebound, take over a game at will and has a very high basketball IQ for his age. He can play all three perimeter positions and is a defensive hound that has a great frame that allows him to guard all three positions. He explained his game as, “My game is very simple but deadly. I’m not all about making someone fall and do all these crazy moves. If it happens, it happens. I hit my defender with a quick and explosive moves to beat them off the dribble after that I read the defense to decide to either attack and finish, dump off to the bigs, or kick out to my teammates for the three ball.”
He played this past travel season with the Atlanta Celtics and was very productive. He had this to say about his summer and live period, “This previous live period went very well. I dominated the period as a point guard and I have developed my talent a lot. I have to show that I can score the ball anytime I want to, which I can.
His older brothers and father have instilled a true work ethic in the youngest Cone and it is evident with the goals that he wants to accomplish. “My goals for next summer is to be the #1 point guard in the the country for all 2020 rankings and to have 5 official offers from high major D1 colleges. I also would like to have interest from UNC and Duke next summer…maybe even a offer from one of the schools would be nice but that would take a lot of hard work which is what I already do, day in and day out.”
The rising freshman spent last season at perennial power High Point Christian Academy which featured Ty Graves (Boston College) & Edrice Adebayo (Kentucky) and finished 24-6 overall before losing in the NCISAA state championship game. He has decided to leave High Point Christian for his high school career. “I’m transferring to Walkertown High School which is a school that has not had any success from their basketball program and players individually. So I’d would like to make history and put Walkertown High School on the map.”
His oldest brother Drew was a standout at East Forsyth HS and Madison is a two-sport standout at East Forsyth, so Jalen knows the process of recruiting and what kind of school he may want to attend, he had this to say, “When my time comes of making a college decision I will be looking for a great coach and a great program that’s going to feel like family, make me better as player, put me on the biggest stage possible, win championships, and help me achieve my dream on becoming a NBA basketball player and Hall of Famer.”
Some college programs have already taken interest in the silky smooth point guard, ” I haven’t received any offers but I heard from UVA, Texas, Wake, and NC State.”