Terrence Jones
Photo by Juliann Tallino
The final holdout among MaxPreps.com's top 25 seniors finally made a decision Friday afternoon when
Terrence Jones picked the University of Washington during a press conference held at
Jefferson High School (Portland, Ore.).
As a senior, Jones poured in over 32 points per game and grabbed 13 rebounds for the Democrats to earn second team All-American honors from MaxPreps. He is ranked No. 6 among all senior prospects.
The highly-coveted Rose City star appeared to be making the decision on the fly.
"I guess now I will be picking one. No one knows because I haven't made a decision yet," Jones said before reaching for a black and purple Washington hat.
The 6-foot-9, 210-pound hybrid forward compiled one of the more impressive prep resumes in Oregon history, winning three state titles with the Democrats and earning 5A Player of the Year honors as a junior and senior.
Jones picked the Huskies over Kansas, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Oregon and UCLA. He managed to keep the media and fans in the dark about his decision to the final minute, helping build an audience of over 25,000 viewers to watch the announcement live on The Oregonian's news site, oregonlive.com.
Jones was joined by teammates Terrence Ross, who also announced his intentions to attend Washington after days of speculation, Antoine Hosley (still deciding between California State-Bakersfield and Gardner-Webb) and Stephen Madison (signed with Idaho).
Ross played at Jefferson as a sophomore – teaming with Jones to win a state title – before transferring to Montrose Christian in Maryland. He returned to Jefferson mid-season as a senior but was denied an opportunity to rejoin the basketball team due to transfer rules. He is regarded as the No. 65 senior prospect by MaxPreps.
Madison, a versatile 6-6 wing/forward-type, posted over 18 points per game as a senior after joining the Demos from Prairie (Brush Prairie, Wash.).
Hosley and Jones were the mainstays for the only team in state history to capture three-straight state titles at the large-school (6A, 5A) level in Oregon.
Terrence Ross embraces Terrence Jones following their joint announcement Friday afternoon.
<center>Photo by Matthew Ginn</center>
