Mississippi teammates emerge
Down in Mississippi, a pair of high school teammates are emerging rapidly. Senior Phillip Jones and junior Dwight Coleby are starting to make some major noise.
The Piney Woods (Miss.) School duo has been strong all year, but it's the 6-foot-6 Jones who is putting up eye-popping numbers.
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After starting as a junior power forward on a very balanced team, Jones has made the move to the wing where he's averaging nearly 28 points and 12 rebounds per game on the season. During conference play, those numbers have jumped to nearly 37 points per game.
"He's not a late bloomer," said Piney Woods coach Lemuel Jones. "He didn't play any AAU really. He went out to one tournament with the Arkansas Wings at the end of summer but he didn't really play because he didn't know the plays and it was a last minute thing."
According to his coach, Jones -- who won the Mississippi state long jump crown as a junior -- is a Dwayne Polee type athlete with length. He can put the ball on the floor, shoots mid range jumpers and is making a smooth transition to the wing.
Texas San Antonio and Louisiana Lafayette have already offered while Arkansas, Colorado State and some others have been involved with more coming.
"Memphis is coming on Saturday and Oklahoma will be here on Sunday," Jones told Rivals.com. "DePaul is going to be here the last week of January so it's really starting to pick up.
"I can see Louisiana Tech coming in and offering after they see him practice on Monday. I fell they are real close to offering."
Things are going very well for the junior Coleby as well. A 6-foot-9, 220 pound power forward who is averaging 18 points, 13 rebounds and five blocks per game.
So far, Mississippi State, Arkansas, Nebraska, UTEP, Southern Miss, Marquette and Georgetown have been involved.
"Dwight's upside is scary," said Jones. "He's long, athletic, blocks shots, runs the floor great. He can shoot the 3 well and is a tough post player."