Recruiting

About Me

Hello! My name is Ian Jones. I am a dual-sport, scholar-athlete, who plays on the varsity basketball team and competes in track & field, at Sonora High School in La Habra, CA. I have a 4.28 Total GPA (weighted); and, currently, I am a student in the International Baccalaureate Program. I am a 6’0”, 161-pound, combo guard and two-way player, starting my second year on the varsity team. I am in my third year playing competitive, AAU club basketball. I play on a team called WE-R1, in Orange County, California under Coach Josh Lozano (17U Premier - @josh_lozanoWER1). I love playing with WE-R1 because we work as a team in order to win. My coaches appreciate my ability to defend and create disruptions on the defensive end of the court. As a result, I am working hard to refine my defensive skills, in addition to working on offensive skills. What I enjoy most, is using my athleticism to impact the defensive side of the game, to create opportunities for my team to score. The more I build my basketball IQ, the more I love challenging myself to find ways to help my team win. In track & field, my secondary sport, I compete in the high hurdles, intermediate hurdles, and the triple jump. Currently, I hold the Sonora High School Frosh record in the triple jump at 43’9”. Also, I am a two-time league champion, two-time CIF Southern Section Prelim qualifier, and a one-time CIF Southern Section Finals qualifier in the triple jump. Something interesting that people would be surprised to learn about me, is that I've been playing basketball at a highly competitive level only since my freshman year in high school. That is because I competed as an elite gymnast for 8 years (including five years in the USA Jr National Team Development Program (Future Stars)). During this time, I could only practice basketball on my day off and play games after gymnastics on Saturdays. Although my favorite sport growing up was always basketball, gymnastics was my first major commitment. Indeed, being a gymnast transformed who I am today, because competing in such a demanding sport helped me to develop unique skills and learn important life lessons. Gymnastics will always be a big part of my life because I learned discipline and developed qualities like perseverance and composure, which I can apply in other sports and aspects of life. My dream is to play basketball at the college level. I would love to attend a school where I can get a high quality education and, at the same time, compete against high level teams and play in major games or tournaments, like the NCAA tournament. I want to be able to continue working to become a better basketball player. If I find a college that is a good match for me, and offers me these options, perhaps, even a school that supports me doing track & field, I will have the best chance to pursue my goals at the next level and beyond. I believe I am prepared to make a dynamic impact on any team in need of a relentless, quick defender, who can make significant contributions on offense. I will bring a positive energy, determination, and a willingness to learn a new system. I will do the “hard work” some players dread. What's more, I look forward to playing a role on a team, where the individual players work together to achieve big goals.