Too often for Gahanna Lincoln coach Tony Staib, conversations centered on Sean Jones between him and college coaches have the same rhythm.
They’ll tell Staib how much they like Jones as a point guard. They go over all of Jones’ positives, referencing his quickness, ability to create space, score and dish. Staib will let them know how highly he thinks of Jones’ coachability, unselfishness and knack for making the right play at the right time. Yet as certain coaches talk, Staib can hear a certain word coming. It’s the same word he’d strongly prefer not to hear in this familiar sequence but seemingly won’t stop coming out of their mouths.
“But…”
“You know what's coming,” Staib told Eleven Warriors. “It's his height.”
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One of the teams with a decision to make at some point? Chris Holtmann’s Buckeyes. Jones could turn out to be Ohio State’s answer at point guard in the 2022 cycle, though he doesn’t hold a scholarship offer from his home state power yet.
Jones’ relationship with the Buckeyes' current coaching staff spans all the way to middle school, when he became the rare eighth-grader to take a recruiting visit. At the time, it was a totally foreign experience. Neither he nor Joshua Whiteside, a fellow 2022 prospect with whom he attended the game, understood how the recruiting process works. He deemed it “just a fun experience.”
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“I think Ohio State's interest of Sean is growing every single day,” Staib said. “I think as time goes on, things will escalate even higher. I've had numerous conversations with their coaches. They are very interested. They're doing a good job starting to form a solid relationship with Sean as time goes on. Their interest is growing daily, there's no doubt about that.”
Jones said he has the closest relationship with assistant coach Ryan Pedon. He said the Buckeyes coaches are “really genuine,” calling them “good people” who “can be funny at times.”
As a freshman at Gahanna Lincoln, Jones took one visit to Ohio State, and he visited three more times last season as a sophomore. His five visits are more than he’s made to any other school.
“I just know that they work hard because I usually sit right behind the bench,” Jones said about his impressions of Ohio State. “They play hard, they coach hard. They put a lot into their games, the game plan behind it. I just know they really want to win.”
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If Jones ends up with an Ohio State offer, which appears increasingly likely, he’d have to make a decision of whether or not to play for his home state’s flagship program, located a 15-minute drive from his high school. That, Jones said, wouldn’t be as important as a college program’s style of play, player development and energy around the team.
“Hometown hero and all that stuff, but I'm really just looking to go somewhere that really feels good for me,” Jones said.
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