Carl "Tay" Jones has had a very impressive spring on the AAU circuit and that has paid off with offers from schools like Iowa, Virginia, and Xavier. Now the lightening quick point guard from Ohio is starting to make his way around the country to visit the campuses of some of the schools that are interested. One of those visits will be to Iowa City to check out the Hawkeye Basketball program.

"We are going to Iowa on the 15th of June," said his father, Carl Jones Sr. "A week later we are going to Xavier and then we are planning to try and get to Kentucky and Virginia at some point. Tennessee also wants him to come to their Elite Camp next month."

The Hawkeyes extended a scholarship offer earlier this month and he also has offers from Virginia, Xavier, St. Joe's, and Penn State with interest from schools like Michigan, Kentucky, and Tennessee.

Iowa has obviously caught the attention of Jones and his father says that he likes the style of Coach Lickliter and his staff.

"Iowa is a school that he is very interested in because of the way that they use their guards and that he lets them play. They have been in close contact with Tay and they send him a lot of mail. Iowa is one of his top choices," said Jones Sr.

He also said that there is an obvious draw for an Ohio native towards the Xavier program given their proximity to their home.

"Xavier is close to home," he said. "We have been talking to Sean Miller a lot and we are looking at their guard situation for the future. We want to get there and get a feel for their program."

As a father, Jones Sr. is playing an active role in his son's recruitment and he wants to accompany him on his visits to get a feel for the programs who have or could be offering a scholarship opportunity. He has joined him on trips to Michigan and St. Joe's and will make the trip to Iowa and Xavier.

"We are looking at a school that is a good fit for him as far as basketball, but also for his education. Once we get there and sit down and talk to them, I can get a feel for how things are going to go by getting to know the coaching staff. Tay is my only son, so I want him to not only develop as a player, but as a man."

At this point, he says that Tay has a list of schools that he likes, including Iowa, but he wants to make his unofficial visits first before starting to narrow the field and give out a list of his top choices.

"We really want to visit all the schools first before we start to narrow things down," he said. "We want to get a feel for all of the schools before we put together a list of top five schools."

This past season the 5-foot-11 Garfield Heights point guard averaged 24 points and six assists per game.


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