Big 12 Basketball: Ranking the Top 12 Incoming Players

Andrew Jones – Texas, Freshman

Possibly the hottest recruit last summer, Andrew Jones comes into Texas as Shaka Smart’s first elite recruit. Jones is a lead guard that can play anywhere in the backcourt, and should be a great complement to returning guards Kerwin Roach and Eric Davis. Jones went from unranked prospect in 2014 to McDonald’s All-American in 2016 – a rarity in the basketball world.

At 6’4, Jones has excellent size for the point guard position and shows great fluidity and quickness on the floor. His overall athleticism is high level, too, as he’s a good leaper and a great straight-line runner in the open floor. As a lead guard, he has all the skills necessary to be an NBA player down the road. He sees the floor well, has a good understanding of how to operate the pick-and-roll, and shows great ballhandling and passing skills. His shooting is also very good, as he has very little in the way of mechanical issues on his jumper and showed deep range in our viewings of him last summer.

Jones has the requisite tools to turn into an elite defender at the college level thanks to his quickness and agility. Playing alongside similar sized guards in Davis and Roach should allow him to switch quite a bit as well. With smaller point guards such as Kansas’ Frank Mason, Oklahoma State’s Juwan Evans, and Iowa State’s Monte Morris dominating the conference of late, Jones’ size should prove to be a very good tool at the position for Coach Smart.

Next: Preseason Freshman of the Year