Gophers Richard Pitino and Tyus Jones spoke on Wednesday night.
Tyus Jones, a 6-foot-2 junior point guard from Apple Valley, led the Eagles to their first ever Class AAAA state title last month. He is ranked #2 in the country by ESPN and has Minnesota among his final seven schools.
GopherHole.com caught up with Jones Thursday to learn the latest on his junior season, winning a state title, the new Minnesota head coach and his recruitment.
Gopher Hole: What was your reaction to the hiring of the new Minnesota head coach?
Tyus Jones: I was waiting to hear just like everybody else. Just happy that they finally found somebody.
Gopher Hole: Do you know much about him or have you looked him up a little bit?
Tyus Jones: I did not know much about him, so it will be interesting to build a relationship with him and just go from there.
Gopher Hole: Have you talked to him? I read that you are supposed to meet with him next week, is that right?
Tyus Jones: I am not supposed to meet with him, but I talked to him last night (Wednesday), actually, but we haven’t planned to meet or anything like that.
Gopher Hole: What impact does the coaching change have on your recruitment with Minnesota?
Tyus Jones: Nothing really. They are still on my list. I am still looking at them as a school. I’ll just have to build a relationship with Coach Pitino now and go from there.
Gopher Hole: Is it going to be tough for Minnesota since those other schools have been recruiting you for a couple of years?
Tyus Jones: I don’t think that it makes a little tougher. I just need to, like I said, build a relationship with them and feel him and his staff out and just go from there and see where it goes.
Gopher Hole: Do you have any trips or visits planned in the next couple of months?
Tyus Jones: No, I do not.
Gopher Hole: How big of a thrill was it to win the state championship?
Tyus Jones: It was unbelievable. It was an unbelievable experience and something that myself and my teammates, family and friends will never forget. It was great.
Gopher Hole: Have you guys already started talking about next year?
Tyus Jones: A little bit. We have a lot of guys back, so there is definitely some excitement about next year, but we are just trying to soak it in right now and focus on AAU.
Gopher Hole: Your AAU team has some new players like Reid Travis and Jarvis Johnson. What are the expectations for this year?
Tyus Jones: We have high expectations. We got a couple of new players, like you said and we are going to look to do some good things this summer.