Jones could face hometown school, UConn, this week

Tyrique Jones grew up in Bloomfield rooting for UConn. He was recruited by Kevin Ollie while at Vermont Academy and made an unofficial visit, but wound up at Xavier instead.

Jones, a senior, will never get to play against the Huskies as Big East rivals. UConn moves back to the Big East next season, but Jones will have graduated and likely be playing professionally somewhere.

However, Jones may get the chance to play against UConn this week. Both UConn and Xavier are playing in the Charleston Classic down in South Carolina, and if both teams win (or lose) their opening games against Buffalo and Towson, respectively, they’ll play on Friday night.

“It definitely would be cool,” Jones told Hearst Connecticut Media recently at Big East Media Day. “Growing up, I loved UConn basketball. I always wanted to go to UConn, but the opportunity at Xavier University presented itself, and I felt like I made the right decision.”

Jones recalled sitting down with his mother, Petronia Bailey, and deciding that Xavier offered what he was looking for: smallersized, strong educational background, etc. No doubt, he made the right call.

Jones has been part of a remarkable whirlwind career at Xavier, which is currently 40 and ranked No. 21 in the nation.

“We’ve been through everything here,” he noted. “My freshman year, we lost six games in a row and everybody wrote us off. We ended up in the Elite Eight. My sophomore year, we had a crazy year — first No. 1 seed in school history. My junior year, we go to the NIT, something none of us expected to do when we signed up to come here. Now, in my senior year, we just want to win. That’s it.”

Jones, a physical, 6foot9, 239pound forward, has had a lot to do with the Musketeers’ success. He’s currently the team’s secondleading scorer (14.5 points per game) and top rebounder (7.8). He knows his team is stacked, led by fellow standouts Naji Marshall and Paul Scruggs, but also knows there’s a lot of work to be done.

“Talent only goes so far,” Jones noted. “In (the Big East), it’s about working hard and executing. Coach (Travis Steele) usually gives us the best game plan, and it’s on us to go out and execute it.”

Perhaps he’ll have that chance against his hometown team on Friday night.