Haley Jones
The Stanford Cardinal had to wait a little longer than most expected to get the good news from their top recruiting target in 2019. Haley Jones, the No. 1 ranked player in 2019 according to ProspectsNation.com, was in the process of making visits to her finalists, which included Connecticut, Oregon, Notre Dame and USC, when the wild fires began raging in California. Focusing on that it pushed back Jones’ decision and announcement.
Haley Jones competes at the Elite is Earned Spring
Invitational with her Cal Stars EYBL club team. *Photo
by Chris Hansen.Jones' annoucement came after the National Letter of Intent's early signing period expired but according to her Archbishop Mitty High School coach, Sue Phillips, she had the document signed and notarized within the window. So So other than making Tara Vanderveer and her staff sweat it out of a few more days, the i's have been dotted and the t's crossed for Haley to be a Cardinal.
The basketball impact is huge for Stanford as the Cardinal hasn’t signed the No. 1 player in a class sign Chiney Ogwumike. And the class was already strong before the addition of the five-star rated Jones. She joins No. 13 Francesca Belibi of Aurora, Colorado, also a five-star rated recruit, No. 36 Hannah Jump of San Jose, Calif., one of the nation’s top shooters, and No. 54 Ashten Prechtel of Colorado Springs, Colorado, a 6-foot-5 skilled post player.
The pieces here all fit the Stanford style and this four-player class will coming in to replace a four-player graduating class of Anna Wilson, Nadia Fingall, Mikaela Brewer and Dijonai Carrington who are all currently juniors.
Looking forward, Stanford already has two ranked players committed in 2020 with Cameron Brink of Beaverton, Oregon, and Jana Van Gytenbeek of Greenwood Village, Colorado. The core for the Cardinal should put them on course for a return to Final Four expectations.
In the mean time look for Jones to lead nationally ranked Archbishop Mitty towards another season in the mix for No. 1 overall. The first big test will come just before Christmas as the Nike Tournament of Champions in suburban Phoenix.
Chris Hansen is managing editor of ProspectsNation.com and serves on the McDonald’s All-American and Naismith Trophy selection committees. He was a co-founder of and the national director of scouting for ESPN HoopGurlz from 2005 until 2012 and is the director of the Check Me Out Showcase and ELITE is EARNEDevents. He can be reached at chris@prospectsnation.com.
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