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Flurry of visits helps Jones pick ACC school

If you watched Jeff Jones's recruitment this fall, then the writing was on the wall on where he would spend his college career. The 6-foot-4, 185-pound junior shooting guard from Monsignor Bonner High School in the Philly area made a verbal commitment to Maryland over the weekend.
Jones made three consecutive weekend visits to College Park this fall as the Terps began to practice. He attended their Midnight Madness festivities, had a chance to watch the team practice and even ran the floor with the squad. His interest level in the ACC school increased each trip, he said.
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"The first visit, I liked it. Then the second visit, I loved it. And then on the third visit, I just fell in love with it," Jones said. "I took two weeks to sleep on it and think about it and I still felt the same so that's why I'm going to Maryland."
With interest from the Terps, Georgia Tech, Villanova and Virginia, Jones knew he had some difficult decisions ahead of him. The proximity to College Park helped.
"It's close to home, only like an hour and a half away and it's in the ACC and I've always wanted to play in the ACC," Jones said. "Plus, they have like nine guys leaving by the time I get there so the playing situation worked out in my favor. Those are pretty much the three reasons."
After a strong summer and an even better fall showing in some Philly-area events, Jones has become one of the hottest shooting guards in the country. The No. 83 ranked player in the class of 2007 can play both guard positions and has a deadly 3-point touch to go with his strong passing skills and high-level athleticism. Jones said Maryland plans on using him like a former Terps star.
"They said they see me like a Juan Dixon-Chris McCray kind of player," Jones said. "They run a flex offense and that's what I'm real comfortable playing. We play that at my high school. I think I'll be able to fit into that right away."
Jones joins fellow four-star prospect Braxton Dupree in Maryland's 2007 recruiting class.
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