No. 1 prospect Jones chooses Stanford over UConn

No. 1 is staying home. UConn struck out in its bid to land another signature recruit as Archbishop Mitty (Calif.) guard Haley Jones announced Wednesday morning that she will attend Stanford. Jones, the top player in the Class of 2019, was also considering Notre Dame, Oregon and South Carolina, in addition to UConn.

“One of the main reasons I chose Stanford was because of the academic powerhouse that it is, and also it has the same level of (prestige) for its athletics,” Jones said on SportsCenter.

Jones’ snub means that UConn’s class for next season will likely remain at one. Ossining High (N.Y.) guard Aubrey Griffin, the No. 33 player in ESPN’s rankings, signed her Letter of Intent with the Huskies last week.

This recruiting cycle certainly is a break from the norm for the 11-time national champions, who generally have had no problem attracting the nation’s top talents to Storrs. The Huskies landed the No. 1 overall player in 2015 (Katie Lou Samuelson), 2017 (Megan Walker) and 2018 (Christyn Williams) and were hoping to headline next year’s class with Jones, who took her official visit to campus earlier this month.

Ultimately, though, Jones, the reigning California Gatorade Player of the Year, chose to stay close to home. Jones averaged 21.8 points, 10.0 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game as a junior and starred on the gold-medal winning FIBA U-17 World Cup team over the summer. Her addition gives Stanford four of the top 50 players in 2019, including Colorado forwards Ashten Prechtel (No. 16) and Francesca Belibi (No. 23) and California guard Hannah Jump (No. 50).

“I think that since it’s close to home, it just adds an extra bonus,” Jones said.