As Inside Tulsa Sports first reported on Saturday, Western Michigan transfer Reggie Jones committed to the Golden Hurricane during an official visit. On Wednesday, the 6-foot-5 wing made it official by signing a Financial Aid Agreement to join the program on the first day of the spring signing period.
Jones will sit out next season due to NCAA transfer rules and will then have two years of eligibility remaining.
“Reggie is a long, versatile athlete who has the ability to play all over the court,” said Tulsa head coach Frank Haith. “He is a talented player that doesn’t need to be identified by a position. He is a very good shooter and made more than 40-percent of his 3-point attempts as a freshman, but his size and length at 6-foot-6, 215-pounds with a 7-foot wingspan lets me know he will become a very good rebounder, defender and shot-blocker as he gains strength.
"This redshirt season (2018-19) is going to be very impactful for Reggie and we are very excited to welcome this great young man into the Tulsa Basketball family."
Jones signed with Western Michigan as a 3-star recruit in the 2016 class and made an immediate impact for the Broncos. As a true freshman, Jones averaged 9.4 points, 3.5 rebounds and 2.3 assists in 32 games. He began the season coming off the bench but ended up starting 14 games, ranking third on the team in scoring average and assists, as well as second in steals and 3-point field goal percentage (40.4%) .
This past season as a sophomore, Jones averaged 10.1 points, 3.9 rebounds and 2.1 assists. He registered a career-high 27 points against Cleveland State, but after the season, he decided to find an opportunity elsewhere and announced his intention to transfer on March 12.
Aside from Tulsa, Jones also heard from schools in the Big 12 and Missouri Valley, but his only official visit was to TU.
Jones attended high school at Marion High in Indiana. As a senior, he averaged 16 points, 6.9 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 3.1 steals per game, helping lead Marion to a record-tying eighth Class 3A Indiana state championship. In the title game, he hit seven of his final 10 shots and all 10 of his free throws, scoring 19 of his 25 points in the second half, and also grabbed eight rebounds and had four assists.
Jones averaged 18.5 points, 7.6 rebounds, 4 assists and 2.4 steals during Marion's run to the state championship. He was an IBCA/Subway Senior Large School All-State Team selection, was named the Chronicle-Tribune’s Boys Basketball Player of the Year, as well as one of the Top 60 senior boys’ basketball players by Hoosier Basketball Magazine.
Jones is the fourth member of Tulsa's 2018 basketball recruiting class. The Hurricane signed three prospects during the November signing period - Chris Barnes, Peter Hewitt and Zeke Moore - and TU still has one scholarship remaining.
Tulsa has been recruiting several junior college big men and should have another official visitor on campus this weekend. Howard Junior College big man Amari McCray had been scheduled to visit TU this coming weekend, but it appears that has been pushed off for now, and Tulsa will instead host Simon Falokun of Dawson Community College.
