One of the remaining names at the top of the priority list for the 2008 recruiting class is Mount Vernon (NY) forward Kevin Jones. Jones is a 6’8″, 215-pounder who can hit the outside shot and go inside as well.

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.