Comments by Terrence Jone's AD help to explain the pressure Jones faces to stay in the Northwest

First off, there is no Terrence Jones news tonight.  And in a way, I would say that no news is good news as far as Kentucky is concerned.  It shows that the Wildcats are really in the running and that Jones is definitely re-considering all his options.  But as for now, no news.  I know that there are rumors galore that Jones has committed to Kentucky and that there is no LOI in yet.  From what I am seeing, these are still rumors at this point and all speculation needs to be considered errant rumors until one of the schools announces a LOI.

The family is not talking and the coaches can not talk about a recruit that has not signed his LOI.  So now reporters are stuck interviewing anyone they can in the Northwest and that usually leads to a story like today’s interview with Terrence Jone’s Athletic Director Mitch Whitehurt.

Maybe it is because the story is written by a Husky reporter with a Husky slant, but the comments by Whitehurst seem to be very much predicated at keeping Terrence Jones near home which is the local public sentiment lies.  But the impression I got from reading the story is whether Whitehurst really has Terrence Jone’s best interest at heart or if he has an ulterior motive in Jones staying in the Pacific Northwest.  Regardless of his motive, his comments came off very defiant and to a point almost self serving:

“Terrence is going to the University of Washington because that’s what I heard him verbally say, He said he wanted to go with his boy Terrence Ross and Terrence Ross is at Washington so I’m assuming that he’s going to do exactly what he said. Follow his boy and follow his decision.”

Granted, I am sure that Whitehurst is very tired about talking about Terrence Jones at this point, but his comments seem to show the pressure that are on Terrence Jones to stay near home.  Regardless of whatever vested interest Whitehurt may have, his comments should be supportive to the development of a 18 year old kid.

I don’t know of an high school AD in the US who would not be thrilled about the possibility of one of his kids going to the all time winningest program in college basketball and possibly give his school a NBA alumnus to brag about in a couple of years.  Whitehurst’s statements should be supportive and saying, “whatever Terrence needs to do what is the best for him, we will support it and give him the resources to make the right choice for him”.  Instead of appearing supportive, Whitehurst seems to indicate that he is not even willing to hold another press conference for Jones, and bind him to the decision that he instantly regretted:

“We’re just going to keep it the way it is.  He’s going to Washington. We’re not going to redo this.”

Such statements from a school administrator border on idiotic.  It is akin to Mitch Barnhart standing firm last year and saying “You know what?  Patrick Patterson declared for the NBA.  He made his bed and now he has to sleep in it.  We are not taking him back”

Of course, if we are going to talk about the whole press conference, there are plenty of questions to be asked there.  It is appearing more and more like Jones was pushed into announcing, even though he admittedly said he had no clue what his decision would be, to highlight the four or other five players who made their announcements known.  Logistically, there really is no reason why Jones had to announce his commitment on Friday, but you wonder if the pressure of announcing with the rest of his his school teammates forced him into making a rash decision he was not ready to make, and now one that his school administrators are not even willing to reconsider another announcement.

Who is making these decisions in the Northwest?  And who’s interests do they have in mind?

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