Terrence Jones recently finished up a visit to UK, where he attended the Blue/White scrimmage, and will be visiting UCLA this weekend. When you see that Terrence is rated as the #3 power forward and #13 prospect overall, it’s no mystery why the Cats have made him a top priority. Here’s a few of the highlights from my conversation with Terrence:
DR: Can you just walk me through your visit and what happened?
Terrence Jones: When I got there on Thursday I went to class with Darius Miller and got to see what it was like to be a student. Then I got to go the cafeteria, went to practice and got to see how hard they go. Then I went out to eat with all of the coaching staff. Then the next day, went to the game and got to meet [Athletic Director Mitch Barnhart]. Then, with the game, I enjoyed watching them play. There was a lot of people there. Then we all went out to eat, me and [CJ Leslie]. The next day we watched them practice and that was about it.
DR: You said that there was a lot of people there at the game. Can you speak a little bit about that and about the fans?
Terrence Jones: It was amazing. They were just showing me how much love and appreciation they had for just me being there and acknowledging me by chanting my name. Just showing me that they really care about the team. They wanted my autograph. That was real cool. I’ve never seen anything like that at any other school on any of my other visits. Yeah that was one of the things that stuck out the most.
DR: As far as seeing the team practice, I know that one of the things that you had previously spoke with me about was fitting into the right system. Did it seem like their system would fit you?
Terrence Jones: Yes. I feel like with me being a good ball handler, that’s one of my best skills, the dribble drive offense would allow me to attack the rim and be a play maker and that’s one of my best abilities.
DR: I assume that most of the schools on your list are on an even plane, but can you speak a little bit about how the visit may have improved UK’s position with you or left it the same as it was before?
Terrence Jones: Me going on all the visits I feel that it brings up each school in its own way because it makes me see one different thing that I didn’t get to see with another school. That’s the thing usually about the visits is that you actually get a hands on feeling about it. I just liked the whole experience of being at the University of Kentucky for the first time.
DR: What about the coaching staff? Do you feel like they are making you a top target?
Terrence Jones: Yeah, I mean, I’ve built a great relationship with Coach Cal and he explains that he feels that he could teach me on and off the court and, the most important thing, to win. He feels that we could win.
DR: Your plan is still to decide during the fall period and sign in the fall?
Terrence Jones: Yeah.
As Matt reported last night, the coaching staff recently made the cross country trip to Portland, further proving that Terrence is a major piece of the Cats’ 2010 recruiting needs. UK looks to be in this race for the long haul and should be a major factor when it comes down to decision time for Terrence.
Make sure that you are following Terrence on twitter to get an up close look at how this top recruit spends his day.