Virginia Tech Basketball: 2019 4-star guard Jalen Cone commits to Hokies
Jalen Cone announced his intentions to play with Virginia Tech Basketball next season, showing Mike Young is just getting started as their new head coach.
Well, the wait is over for head coach Mike Young securing a top recruit. 5-foot-11 guard Jalen Cone made his decision to play with Virginia Tech Basketball on Thursday afternoon in front of family, friends and his student-body.
With ultimately a bare cupboard for the 2019-20 season, Cone joins the rotation looking to make an impact right away. He announced this past Sunday his intentions to reclassify into the 2019 class after mulling the decision for a few weeks. Now, he’s a member of the Virginia Tech Hokies 2019 recruiting class.
During his high school career, his impact was felt for the past three seasons at Walkertown High School. As a member of their team, he produced 34 points per game as a sophomore and averaged 25.7 points and 6.0 rebounds this past season.
Cone chose the Hokies over Tennessee, Texas A&M, Boston College, Wake Forest and NC State. He couldn’t pass up an opportunity to play in the best conference in college basketball when the Hokies came calling.
Credit assistant coach Christian Webster for keeping the recruitment alive as well. With the departure of head coach Buzz Williams, things looked murky for Virginia Tech’s future on the hardwood but Cone attributes Webster for keeping him in the loop with the Hokies.
The Hokies coaching staff pursued Cone hard, visiting him at home and having him on campus in Blacksburg for an official visit in the past few weeks. Other than Virginia Tech, Cone only went on an official visit to Tennessee this past fall. I was able to catch up with Jalen to get his thoughts on his latest commitment.
Q: How do you feel about your commitment?
Jalen Cone: I’m feeling great. I got the process over with now so I’m ready to get back in the lab how I want to and just finish up my high school classes.
Q: Things have changed quite a bit this past year. A season ago you were thinking about being committed already in the Class of 2020, now you’re a Virginia Tech Hokie and a member of the 2019 recruiting class. What’s that been like?
JC: I guess for people going through this process, I’d just like to say think about this early on in your junior year. I was prepared for it just thinking about am I really ready for the next level. Once I made that decision it was an easy one.
Q: During your press conference, you mentioned Virginia Tech needing Jalen Cone. Talk about how that fit into your commitment.
JC: Like I said, they need to come and play right away. A lot of schools really needed me to play right away and I just felt like Coach Young and his system fit my game really well.
Next. Major 2019 recruiting decisions this weekend. dark
It came down to fit at the end of the day and Cone really feels like “the Hokies need Jalen Cone.” It speaks to his confidence as a lead guard on the basketball court. Based on the relationship, it seems like Mike Young is ready to give him the keys to the Hokies offense.