Texas Tech basketball: Red Raiders in contact with elite 2021 forward
Always with an eye to the future, the Texas Tech basketball program has been in touch with 4-star 2021 forward Jaden Jones.
One of the reasons Chris Beard and his staff have been so successful since taking over the Texas Tech basketball program is that they are always grinding. Though the current season is approaching the start of Big 12 play, the Red Raiders are not putting the building of the program’s future on the back burner.
Rather, Tech has been in contact with an elite scorer in the class of 2021. According to Jake Weingarten, owner of Stockrisers.com, the Red Raiders are interested in Jaden Jones, a 6-foot-7 forward who is currently a high school junior.
The Dallas native is playing for Prolific Prep in California this year. If that school sounds familiar, it is probably because that’s also where 5-star 2020 Red Raider signee Nimari Burnett is playing this season as well.
As for Jones, he is rated by 247Sports as a 4-star prospect who is the No. 12 player in Texas and the No. 30 small forward in the nation. Overall, he’s ranked No. 128 in the country.
Four-star junior Jaden Jones still a name to remember: Shot 8/9 from the arc just a few days back.
— Jake (@jakeweingarten) December 24, 2019
As for his recruitment? Texas Tech, Xavier, Mizzou, Illinois, Iowa State and others, all in contact.
Elite offensive player.
His offer list includes Alabama, Colorado, LSU, USC, Arizona, and Nebraska at this time but being as it is a year until he can sign, expect that list to grow by leaps and bounds. And he’s been in the national spotlight since at least the 5th grade when a YouTube video of his ball-handling surfaced. To this date, it has been viewed over 5.6 million times.
At 6-foot-7, 190-pounds, he’s already big enough to be one of the positionless wings that Beard covets. He is similar in build to current freshman Terrence Shannon Jr. and he could be even bigger by the time he steps foot on campus in about a year-and-a-half.
That’s the type of player Beard has been stockpiling. With the addition of 2020 signee Chibuzo Agbo Jr. (6-foot-7, 210-pounds), Tech is developing a pipeline of 6-foot-5 to 6-foot-8 wings that can do just about anything on the court.
Don’t forget that one of the most talented players in the program, one who certainly fits that mold, is sitting out this year. UNLV transfer Joel Ntambwe was denied an eligibility waiver from the NCAA this fall meaning the 6-foot-8 forward will have to wait until next year to make his Red Raider debut after averaging 11.8 points per game as a true freshman in 2018-19.
Another versatile 6-foot-7 forward on the roster waiting to make his Tech debut is freshman Tyreek Smith. A 4-star 2019 signee, he’s yet to play because of a broken foot and it’s fair to wonder if he is headed towards a redshirt given that he just got out of his orthopedic walking boot within the last two weeks.
Beard and the Red Raiders have signed the two best classes in program history in the last two years. The current class sits at No. 8 nationally while the 2019 signing haul was rated the No. 14 class in America by 247Sports. If Beard can start the 2021 class by landing a player of Jaden Jones’ ability, he might be on track to continue to set the bar higher.