UCLA 2010 PG commit: Lazeric Jones update

Paul Newton / The Southern JALC's Lazeric Jones drives toward the basket agains Ernst Prep during the Volunteers' win over the Aviators on Thursday, Nov. 12, in Carterville. The sophomore point guard has given a verbal commitment to play basketball at UCLA next fall. (Courtesy)

JALC’s Jones commits to UCLA
thesouthern.com
Posted: Wednesday, January 6, 2010 1:00 am

CARTERVILLE - John A. Logan College point guard Lazeric Jones ended all the speculation about his future when he gave a verbal commitment over the holiday break to play basketball next fall at UCLA.

"It's really exciting," said Jones of his decision. UCLA coaches had attended several Logan games in November and December and convinced the sophomore to visit the Los Angeles campus. Jones agreed and fell in love with the campus immediately.

"It's a really nice place and I get along well with the coaching staff. I also got a chance to meet some of the players," Jones said. "UCLA is a young team, so I believe I can be a part of something special there the next couple of years."

Because the deal is not final until Jones signs a letter of intent during the April signing period , UCLA officials are prohibited from commenting on their newest recruit.

Jones is only believed to be the second junior college player the university has ever recruited in its storied history of basketball.

"Zeek deserves all the credit," John A. Logan coach Mark Imhoff said. "He did what he had to do to put himself in the position of being heavily recruited. He worked hard to improve his basketball skills, particularly on the defensive end and with his decision-making at the point, and he has worked hard in the classroom. That combination made him an attractive commodity."

Imhoff said Jones, a graduate of Simeon High School in Chicago, is a rare package of quickness and size at point guard (6-foot 2, 197), which will allow him to compete favorably at the next level.

"And I'm sure he will only get stronger once UCLA's strength coaches get hold of him," he said.

Imhoff said Jones is the first player he can recall in his 25 years at Logan to verbally commit to a four-year school during the season.

"The circumstances were such that UCLA had a need to fill. Zeek took a very level-headed approach and made a visit over the break and then made his decision. Now he can relax and focus on what's ahead the rest of this season," Imhoff said.
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Turnover ends OT game for LLC men
By Scott Richey, Staff Writer
Journal Gazette, Times-Courier (Mattoon and Charleston, Illinois)
Wednesday, January 6, 2010 11:35 PM CST

MATTOON -- Lake Land guard Alonzo Bass did exactly what coach Cedric Brown asked him to do so the Lakers could set up their last chance at either a game-tieing or game-winning basket against John A. Logan on Wednesday night.

Bass got the rebound off a missed Vols’ free throw, dribble quickly up the right side of the court and allowed Brown to call a time out when he passed midcourt so the Lakers could get the ball on their half of the court for the last-second shot.

Bass got the ball off the ensuing inbounds pass, dribbled outside of the 3-point line and turned the ball over when he picked up his dribble after being pressured by Vols’ guard Lazeric Jones.

John A. Logan missed its final two free throws after Kenneth Harris Jr. was fouled with less than one second to play, but the Vols still got a 77-75 victory.


“We drew up a play that gets us a shot basically any time we want it,” Brown said. “We just didn’t deliver the entry pass and lost by two points. But we should have won the game in regulation. Up by seven with five minutes to go, we turned the ball over and missed free throws. We just didn’t do what we needed to do to win the ball game, and we didn’t deserve to win.”

Jones led the Vols with 25 points including 12 in the second half and five of his team’s nine overtime points. John A. Logan had two other players in double figures with Harris contributing 16 and Jesse Perry adding 15 points. Harris and Perry were also the Vols’ leading rebounders with nine and eight rebounds, respectively.

Lake Land got 19 points and five rebounds from Paris Carter with Moussa Gueye (14 points) and Travis Scott (11 points) also finishing the game in double figures.

It was Scott that gave the Lakers even a chance to win the game in overtime. John A. Logan led 68-66 after a driving layup from Perry when Lake Land’s apparent game-winning shot attempt (a 3-pointer from the left corner from Stefon Perry) rimmed out. Scott pulled down the offensive rebound, and his putback as the buzzer expired tied the game at 68-68.

“It was a play that we ran out of a time out,” Brown said. “We got the look that we want, the ball comes out and Travis Scott did a real good job of rebounding the basketball and putting it back in. Stefon had a good look in regulation, it just didn’t go down.”

The Lakers played the end of regulation and all of overtime without Gueye–their 7-foot post presence–after he fouled out two-thirds of the way through the second half. That missing size limited the Lakers’ ability to work the ball into the post.

“It hurts when you have a presence like that and you don’t have him in the game,” Brown said. “Sometimes a player just has to do a better job of listening and do a better job of executing what we ask him to do. He picked up three or four fouls and shouldn’t have picked those fouls up if he’s staying tall and getting his hands straight up.”

The Lakers are scheduled to return to action on Saturday afternoon against Southwestern Illinois in Belleville. Tipoff is scheduled for 3 p.m.

“We just have to keep plugging away,” Brown said. “We’ve got 15 more games, and we’ve got to take each game at a time and each possession at a time. Hopefully we’ll get better as time goes along.”

John A. Logan 32 36 9 -77

Lake Land 31 37 7 -75

JOHN A. LOGAN: Jones 8-7-25; Hines 3-1-7; Moore Jr. 0-2-2; Harris Jr. 5-6-16; Perry 4-7-15; Butler 4-0-9; Roshell 0-0-0; Maymon 0-2-2; Clark 0-1-1; Webster 0-0-0

LAKE LAND: Gueye 5-4-14; Bass 4-1-9; Giertz 1-2-5; Perry 2-0-5; Carter 7-6-19; Seeber 3-0-6; Scott 4-3-11; Von Nordeck 2-1-6; Armah 0-0-0; Lientz 0-0-0; Wright 0-0-0; Brown 0-0-0; Stevenson 0-0-0

3-point shots: John A. Logan 3 (Jones 2, Butler); Lake Land 3 (Perry, Giertz, Von Nordeck). Rebounds: John A. Logan 37 (Harris Jr. 9, Perry 8, Butler 6); Lake Land 32 (Carter 5, Armah 4). Turnovers: John A. Logan 21; Lake Land 16.