UCLA Signs Lazeric Jones to a National Letter of Intent

UCLA Signs Lazeric Jones to a National Letter of Intent

Jones will be a junior after transferring from John A. Logan College in Carterville, Ill.

from the Official UCLA Men's Basketball website
April 15, 2010


LOS ANGELES - UCLA head coach Ben Howland announced today the signing of Lazeric Jones to a National Letter of Intent to attend UCLA in the fall of 2010.

Jones, a 6-foot-2-inch, 195-pound guard out of Chicago, Ill., (Simeon High School), will be a junior next season after transferring from John A. Logan College in Carterville, Ill., where he played for head coach Mark Imhoff.

Jones joins the early signing class, which consisted of Tyler Lamb, a 6-foot-4-inch, 195-pound guard out of Santa Ana, Calif., and Mater Dei High School and Josh Smith, a 6-foot-10-inch, 280-pound center from Kent, Wash., and Kentwood High School.

"I'm really excited about Lazeric Jones joining our basketball program and family," Howland said. "Lazeric is an outstanding point guard and is a good defender on the ball. He is a good playmaker and is adept at penetrating defenses and can also shoot the ball. The great thing about him is that he is a great kid that works very hard and loves to play the game. I think he will be an outstanding addition to our team."

Jones averaged 14.5 points, 4.9 rebounds and led his team in assists (5.7 apg), steals (3.5 spg) and free-throw percentage (77.0%) as a sophomore in 2009-10. He helped lead the Volunteers to a 24-7 overall record and a Great Rivers Athletic Conference title with a 14-2 mark.

Jones is excited about his new career opportunity. He said the rigors and physicality of high-level Division I basketball will force him to perform better.

"I feel I can come in and play at the next level," Jones said. "I'm going to give it all I've got."
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John A. Logan College players Lazeric Jones (left) and Jesse Perry signed letters of intent Wednesday to play basketball next fall on scholarship at UCLA and the University of Arizona. Seated with the dynamic duo is Vols head coach Mark Imhoff. Standing is Logan assistant coach Kyle Smithpeters.

Perry, Jones Make it Official – Sign with Arizona, UCLA
John A. Logan College News
Posted: April 14th, 2010 under Athletics, General, Men's Basketball.


John A. Logan College men’s basketball coach Mark Imhoff has never seen the likes of it before. He has coached some talented players in his 25 years with the Volunteers, but never coached two kids on the same team who were good enough to be recruited by some of the nation’s elite universities.

On Wednesday, sophomores Jesse Perry and Lazeric Jones made it official. Perry signed a letter of intent to play ball next fall for the University of Arizona, while Jones signed to play on scholarship with UCLA. Both are members of the strong Pac-10 Conference out west.

Perry is a 6-foot-8 power forward who can also shoot the three. He led the Vols in scoring this past season at 17 points per game and rebounds with 10 per game.

Jones, a 6-foot-2 point guard, averaged 14.5 points per game and was also tops in assists and steals.

“They will both be fine additions to the Arizona and UCLA basketball programs,” Imhoff said. “Jesse and Zeek (Jones) did everything we asked of them here and have worked extremely hard to make themselves better players. I expect both to be successful at the next level.”

Perry said he is glad to get the recruiting process out of the way and concentrate 100 percent of his efforts on preparing for his next hurdle – Division I basketball at Arizona.

“I feel like all the hard work I put in has really paid off,” he said. “I’m ready to go to Arizona and get some wins and hopefully win the Pac-10.”

Perry said he also looks forward to the opportunity to play against his Logan teammate, Jones, when the Wildcats square off with the Bruins of UCLA.

“Playing against each other and knowing how competitive he is…like I am, it’s going to be a lot of fun.”

Perry said he plans to have the same strategy this off season as last off season when he vaulted to one of the best players in the Great Rivers Athletic Conference to the best, according to league coaches.

“I plan to put the time in – work hard and listen to the coaching staff. Stay focused and take it day by day. I have a lot of confidence in myself. I knew that eventually this time would come. It came and I was ready for it.”

Jones is also excited about his new career opportunity. He said the rigors or physicality of high-level Division I ball will force him to perform better.

“I feel I can come in and play at that level,” he said. “I’m going to give it all I’ve got.”

Jones said he will take about a month off and then begin his new basketball journey later in the summer.
Like Perry, he can’t wait until UCLA and Arizona hook up to play each other.

“I know what it’s like to go up against Jesse in practice every day, so going on a big stage like that ought to be a lot of fun. Both of us have worked hard for this and we’re both looking forward to this new opportunity.”