The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Tribune Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

KAI Jones will head to the Texas Longhorns as one of the top 50 Prep Basketball recruits in America.

Jones was listed at No. 49 in the final ranking of the ESPN Top 100 for the Class of 2019 following his standout season at Brewster Prep Academy in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire.

Listed at 6’10”, 193 pounds, Jones earned a scout grade of 88 overall and was ranked No.13 among all centres, No.12 in his region and No.1 in the state of New Hampshire.

Jones’ Brewster Academy Bobcats claimed the 2019 National Prep School Championship title with a 67-51 win over Scotland Campus (Pennsylvania).

Sixteen Brewster alumni have played in the NBA, while 50+ others have had professional careers in leagues around the world, including the NBA G League. Ten alumni have been selected in the NBA Draft since 2010.

The much-anticipated recruiting process for Jones came to an end in October when he committed to the Texas Longhorns for the Fall 2019 campaign.

Jones, a consensus four-star recruit, chose the Longhorns over the Florida State Seminoles and Baylor Bears. He became the fifth Bahamian player to join either Longhorns basketball programme following Locksley Collie (1989-91), Dexter Cambridge (1990 - 92), Shaquille Cleare (2015 - 17) and Lashann Higgs (2015 – present).

“Texas showed serious interest in me before everything blew up in the summer. Coach Smart personally recruited me and expressed his interest in getting me to Texas. The basketball programme and the academics are highly regarded and I felt that it would be a great next step for me,” Jones said. “I’m a very athletic player who plays with high energy and motor. I’m also very aggressive on both ends of the floor with a winning attitude and mentality.”

In addition to the aforementioned schools, Jones received offers from some of the most elite Division I programmes in the NCAA, including Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Iowa State, Oregon, Stanford, Syracuse, Vanderbilt and others.

A 4.0 student in the classroom, Jones transferred to Brewster Academy in Lake Winnipesaukee, New Hampshire this academic year after spending the last season at Orlando Christian Prep in Orlando, Florida.

Last summer, he was invited to the NBA’s Global Camp in Treviso, Italy, and made an impression on some of the most notable names in the industry. He last competed at home in November when Brewster Academy participated in November’s Caribbean Tip-Off Classic.