By Scott Hansen
MaxPreps.com
Omaha Central's Jones Pulls Trigger, Picks Jays
Creighton fans have been through a lot in recent weeks with head coach Dana Altman accepting the Arkansas job, only to have a change of heart to return home to Omaha just 24 hours later. Now, Creighton fans can continue to look forward to the future as the Jays have found themselves a deadly shooting guard.
Omaha Central junior Josh Jones has made a verbal commitment to Creighton after leading the Eagles to two-straight Class A (large-school) state titles.
As a junior, Jones averaged over 18 points per contest while hitting 45 percent of his three-point attempts. In a 93-85 victory over Bellevue West in the title game, Jones scored 28 points and hit 5 of 7 from three-point land.
Jones will join Bellevue West's Antoine Young at Creighton. Central has defeated West in the Class A state title game in overtime the past two seasons. In the state final loss to Central, Young finished with a game-high 39 points and also hit five three's. Young averaged 20.6 points per game for the Thunderbirds.
Player to Watch: Chadron's Elliot Eliason
As a 6-10 freshman, Chadron's Elliot Eliason did not produce eye-popping numbers on a consistent basis, but he could play his way onto the radar this summer.
Eliason averaged over 4 points and 4 rebounds per game, but grabbed a season-high 16 rebounds in a Class C-1 semifinal victory over Ashland-Greenwood. Eliason also rejected at least five shots in nine games last season for the Cardinals, who lost to Ainsworth in the state final.
Player to Watch: Millard South's Vondrae Tostenson
Despite attending his third school in three years, Tostenson is an athletic talent that could be a major prospect in both football and basketball.
After starting his career at Omaha Central, Tostenson transferred to Omaha Creighton Prep before his sophomore season. The weekend prior to Prep's first round contest against Omaha Bryan in the Class A state basketball tournament, Tostenson transferred yet again to Millard South.
In the first round, Prep pulled a huge upset over Bryan in controversial fashion after replays showed a game-winning tip-in was after the buzzer.
At 6-5 and nearly 210 pounds, Tostenson hauled in 13 touchdown passes in his first two seasons as a wide receiver. Nebraska, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Florida, and Iowa are leading the charge for Tostenson on the gridiron. As a freshman, Tostenson had 210 receiving yards in just one game.
On the hardwood, Tostenson turned heads at the Jayhawk Invitational last summer.
Scott Hansen: oksportswriter@yahoo.com