On a Saturday last month, inside a cramped gym in a Chicago suburb, Christian Jones started the July evaluation period having already been discovered. Along a sideline, I sat scribbling notes trying to play catch up. A week earlier, the East St. Louis native had pledged to Missouri, becoming the Tigers’ first commitment of the 2022 cycle. A normally months-long process – evaluation, offer, visit, and decision — compressed itself to a scant eight days.
Outside of coach Cuonzo Martin’s staff, the whirlwind courtship left anyone figuring out precisely what Jones could do.
Later that morning, Jones knocked off rust with Brad Beal Elite, who trekked to the Chicago Summer Jam as a warm-up act.