Ultimately, it was Bob Huggins and his ability to develop players like Jones in the past that gave the West Virginia the edge. Kevin’s brother Gerard offered the following comments to Adam Zagoria of the Zagsblog and NYChoops.net:

“Bob Huggins does the best job with tweeners like Kevin and getting them prepared for the next level,” Gerard Jones said. “With Huggins’ resume of developing players Kevin’s size and making them productive, we had to go with his resume.”

On a brighter note, Tom Pritchard, Matt Roth and Terrell Holloway have all signed and their letters have been received by Indiana according to John Decker of Hoosier Nation.

Devin Ebanks, the prized recruit of the class, is also signed, sealed and delivered according to Terry Hutchens of the Indianapolis Star.

Additional coverage:

• C-J Recruiting Blog
  
• The Hoosier Scoop
• Hoosiers Insider
• Huggs lands a big one

The four-man class, highlighted by Devin Ebanks, is considered to be one of the top 20 in the nation. That ranking could get a sizable boost if Jones decides to don the candy striped pants. Joining Ebanks in the 2008 recruiting class are guards Matt Roth (pictured) and Terrell Holloway and forward Tom Pritchard.

I’ve fielded some e-mails and I’ve been asked in the comments where Mr. Jones is going and your guess is as good as mine. All of the buzz seems to be centered around Pittsburgh, West Virginia and Indiana. However, Kevin’s brother, Gerard, still mentioned Seton Hall, Rutgers, St. John’s and Massachusetts as possibilities as recently as last week.

The fact is the lid has been kept fairly tight on where Jones will end up. He’s expected to announce his decision at a 2:00 presser at Mt. Vernon.

While I’m very encouraged with a second straight top 20 recruiting haul for Coach Sampson and staff, I’m also left daydreaming on what could have been if Bud Mackey and Tyler Zeller were a part of this class. We’d probably be talking a top three class nationally, but so it goes in the world of recruiting. There’s always next year, right?

So what are your thoughts on this recruiting class? Thrilled? Disappointed? Indifferent? And where is Kevin Jones going to end up? Since I don’t know, can you fill me in?

Related:

• Matt Roth will be a Hoosier
• Ohio forward Tom Pritchard joins 2008 class
• Terrell Holloway picks the Hoosiers
• Scouting report: Devin Ebanks
• Tyler Zeller heading to Tobacco Road
• Bud Mackey arrested on drug charges

Kevin Jones, the 6′7″ forward from Mt. Vernon (NY) and the No. 79 player in the 2008 class according to Rivals.com, is still considering the Hoosiers. He’ll make a decision sometime before the end of the early signing period on November 21.

His brother Gerard, who is handling his recruitment, offered up the following comments to our good friend Jody Demling of the Louisville Courier-Journal regarding IU’s chances:

“They definitely will be considered. Indiana is still very high on Kevin’s list of schools. There was a quote from me that was taken a little out of context about the situation that said we were wavering. We’re just looking at them closer. Kevin enjoyed the trip there and loved the fans. That’s Hoosierland and he loved those fans. But we had to look at it close because it’s a big decision. That’s not to say they lost any footing. We spoke with Kelvin Sampson and Kevin likes him a lot. We knew Rob Senderoff a lot longer because he’s from New York. He got to know our family and the history of the (high school) program. But again that’s because he was already from up here. But Kevin likes Coach Sampson a lot.”

Shortly after Rob Senderoff’s resignation, I had a feeling Senderoff leaving could hurt IU’s chances of landing Jones. However, it’s encouraging that Kelvin Sampson is picking up right where Senderoff left off.

Also of note, our friends in Columbus (losers last evening to DII powerhouse Findlay) are no longer in the running for Jones because he wasn’t ready to give the Buckeyes an answer just yet. This according to Adam Zagoria of the Herald News in New Jersey.

So here is the list of schools still in the running for the Mt. Vernon native, in no particular order: Indiana, West Virginia, Pittsburgh, Massachusetts, Rutgers, St. John’s and Seton Hall.

If I had to handicap the race, I’d say IU, West Virginia and Pittsburgh have the best chance of landing Mr. Jones. His addition would propel IU’s current recruiting haul into another top 15 class. And more importantly, IU would add a team-first player who is capable of an immediate impact up front.

Previously:

• Kevin Jones a high priority for the Hoosiers

Devin Ebanks, Derek Elston and Matt Roth, three players already committed to the Hoosiers, are slated to take in the festivities. Ebanks will be on his official visit while Elston and Roth will be on unofficial visits. Roth took his official visit alongside Tyler Zeller a couple of weeks ago. Zeller will be at Notre Dame this weekend and will finish his visits with a trip to Purdue next weekend.

Kevin Jones, from Mount Vernon (NY), will be on hand for his unofficial visit with his brother, Gerard. Jones is one of the final 2008 targets still on the board and is also considering Ohio State, West Virginia, UMass and Pittsburgh.

The 2009 class will also be well represented at Hoosier Hysteria. As I talked about a few weeks ago, Nolan Dennis, Lance Stephenson (pictured) and Dexter Strickland will all attend.

Lawrence North’s Stephan Van Treese, who recently visited Louisville and is being recruited by several other high major programs, will make the drive down from Indianapolis.

If you include Elston, five of the top 100 players in the 2009 class will be at Assembly Hall.

Other notable guests include Ray McCallum Jr., Jordan Prosser and Jacob Jenkins. Prosser, a 2009 forward from Goodfield (IL), has an IU offer and played with Indiana Elite and will attend per Midstatehoops. Jenkins, also a member of the 2009 class, is from Manual high school in Louisville and does not have an offer from IU. He was in the Rivals top 100 for 2009 but dropped out of the rankings after the summer.

Also, I’ve received a few e-mails asking about TV coverage of Hoosier Hysteria. The Big Ten Network is planning to have live reports from around the Big Ten beginning at 9:30 PM on Friday. Indiana will be one of the schools featured along with Minnesota, Illinois, Michigan State and Wisconsin.

Devin Ebanks checks in as the No. 15 player in the class and Bud Mackey is the No. 41 player.

Washington (IN) big man Tyler Zeller, who visited IU this past weekend, is slotted in at No. 18. Kevin Jones, who will reportedly visit IU on October 12 for Hoosier Hysteria, comes in at No. 37.

Rise will release full biographies for the top 50 players in a publication called Hardwood that will be released in late October.

Also of note, here are the top five players on the list: Samardo Samuels (Louisville), Greg Monroe (undecided), Tyreke Evans (undecided), Jrue Holiday (UCLA) and Brandon Jennings (Arizona).

{HT: C-J Recruiting Blog}

First off, I don’t think Pritchard’s commitment is a sign that IU isn’t going to land Zeller or Jones. I’m not saying that they’ll land either guy because I think it’s still totally up in the air. But I think some of the comments trying to link the Pritchard commitment to the sentiment that we’re not getting Zeller or Jones are off base. Rest assured, both guys are at the top of IU’s wishlist.

As far as the scholarship numbers go, the Hoosiers appear to be fine in that department. D.J. White, A.J. Ratliff, Mike White and Lance Stemler are all seniors. You’ll also have Kyle Taber’s scholarship freed up after the season. (Taber has Ben Allen’s scholarship for the upcoming season.) And one has to think there’s a good chance that Eric Gordon’s grant could also become available based on his NBA potential. That would be at least six available scholarships, assuming Gordon goes pro, and as of today there are four committed players for 2008.

- Hats off to Jeff Rabjohns for his coverage of the Tyler Zeller recruitment. Rabjohns has a story today with an update on Zeller’s trip to Chapel Hill this past weekend. {Indianapolis Star}

- The Indiana Daily Student has quotes from Kelvin Sampson’s press conference earlier today. {basketblog}

- Madisonville (KY) guard Jon Hood recently visited IU on an unofficial visit. Hood shot up the rankings this past summer and is the No. 39 player in the 2008 class according to Rivals. Hood will attend Kentucky’s Midnight Madness next month. {C-J Recruiting Blog}

- And finally, Jody Demling goes a bit more in-depth about the Pritchard commitment. {Louisville Courier-Journal}

The past two seasons, Jones has led his Mount Vernon high school team to back-to-back state titles. Oh and by the way, he’s in the National Honor Society.

Jones still has a fairly long list of schools to sift through, but IU seems to be right in the mix for his services. In fact, Adam Zagoria of the Herald News in New Jersey reported earlier today that IU coach Kelvin Sampson visited Jones on Sunday night:

Indiana head coach Kelvin Sampson was in on Sunday night, trying to sell Kevin on pairing up with Devin Ebanks in the Indiana frontcourt.

Since I haven’t seen Jones play, I asked Dave Telep of Scout.com for a scouting report on the Mount Vernon forward.

“I think Kevin Jones at the end of the day, is a workhorse type kid who has a desire to win and get better. He holds himself to very high standards. He’s one of those kids that you can toss aside where he’s rated or what different people think of him. I think he could play for anybody in the country because of his approach and his talent level. I think everybody’s looking for a Kevin Jones. There isn’t a style or a temperament, he just fits in. He’s a good basketball player.” Telep said.

Pretty high praise from the guy I consider to be the expert when it comes to basketball recruiting on the national level. Jones certainly has the blue collar work ethic that Kelvin Sampson values in his players. I’ll be keeping a close eye on his recruitment as we head towards November.

Garcia, ranked No. 27 overall in the class of 2008 by Rivals.com, chose Memphis over Indiana. Garcia moved to the U.S. last season and played at East Chicago (Ind.) Central High. He played this summer for the Puerto Rican National Team at the under-19 championships in Serbia, where Memphis assistant coach Chuck Martin traveled to watch him play.

While not a favorable outcome for the Hoosiers, coach Sampson and staff still have a shot at landing Tyler Zeller and Kevin Jones to help round out the 2008 class. The early buzz last winter was that Garcia was leaning towards IU, but it’s no secret that things can change in the blink of an eye in recruiting and the impact Martin had on this recruitment was more than I originally believed it to be.

Best of luck to Mr. Garcia at Memphis, where I believe he’ll thrive under Calipari’s up-tempo style and reach his goal of getting to the NBA.

Ebanks teamed with another IU target, Mount Vernon (NY) forward Kevin Jones as well as Brandon Jennings (Arizona), Samardo Samuels (Louisville) and Tyreke Evans.

Slam Magazine was there to break down the action and here’s what they had to say about Ebanks, who finished with 18 points:

Devin Ebanks, 6-9 wing, St. Thomas More (CT), 2008, committed to Indiana: A skilled, oversized wing in the Durant/McGrady mold, Ebanks’ smooth jaunts to the rack were remarkable. Combine that with his outside J and the Queens native had a more than respectable outing.

This is the type of praise we’ve already heard for Ebanks and just reinforces the fact that he’s going to be a flat out stud the minute he arrives on campus next fall. The fact that he’s being compared to Kevin Durant and Tracy McGrady makes me even more excited to see him in person.

I wasn’t able to find any stats for Jones, but Jennings finished with 19 points and 23 assists, Evans scored 30 points and Samuels added 21 points.

6′7″ forward Kevin Jones from Mount Vernon, NY is setting up his official visits and IU is going to get one. Jones is the No. 79 player in the class of 2008 according to Rivals. {Zagsblog}

Courier-Journal recruiting guru Jody Demling talks about Matt Roth’s commitment to Indiana and what effect it could have on Tyler Zeller coming to Bloomington. {C-J Recruiting Blog}

There are quite a bit of rumors about A.J. Ratliff’s eligibility floating around on various message boards, but nothing official has surfaced yet. Chris Korman discuses the rumor, briefly. {Hoosier Scoop}

Illinois freshman Quinton Watkins may be ineligible. For some reason, I don’t feel sorry for good ol’ Bruce. {Gatehouse News Service}

Sort of off-topic from IU hoops, but worth a mention is that IU has once again been named one of the top 10 party schools in the land. Oh how proud my alma mater makes me. {MSN via the Princeton Review}