Prospect Spotlight: Elaina Jones (2019)

<strong>Elaina Jones</strong> stands somewhere in the neighborhood of 6'0" tall. But after watching her play, you would swear she's at least 3 inches taller. Jones is as tough as they come in the post. She is dominant inside, and pulls in rebounds at an absurdly high rate despite being undersized against taller post players. Elaina averaged just over 10 points per game for DeLaSalle last year as a junior, and is ranked as the 19th best player in the class of 2019 by Prep Girls Hoops. Jones spent this past summer playing with the Minnesota Suns, which was her first year with the team. She was candid when talking about the transition to playing with a new squad. "Playing with a whole new team was definitely hard but it was worth it when you have a lot of people who are willing to work together." Jones was quick to give credit to coach Dre Jefferson for helping the group to gel. She said, "Playing with Coach Dre was really cool. He invested his time into every player as much as he did his own kids." Elaina did note that opponents have become increasingly focused on stopping her around the basket. She has been spending lots of time this summer working on her jump shot to become more of a threat away from the hoop. She told PGH, "I want to be more consistent on the floor. Making a bigger name for myself instead of just being a big rebounder." [caption id="attachment_10329" align="alignright" width="315"] Elaina Jones and her Islander teammates celebrated a section championship in 2017-2018[/caption] Jones and DeLaSalle will likely go into the season as one of the top ranked teams in class AAA. The Islanders overcame a number of injuries and made a run to the state tournament last year behind an incredibly balanced scoring attack. DLS had nine players average at least six points per contest in 2017-2018. They lost <strong>Ayanna Gardner</strong>, <strong>Dacoda Speidel</strong>, and <strong>Olivia Travis</strong> to graduation. But will bring back a strong core that includes Jones and fellow senior <strong>Mary Claire Francois</strong>, 2020's <strong>Nurjei Weems</strong> and <strong>Alexis Cochran-Starr</strong>, and 2021 stand-out <strong>Nora Francois</strong>. You can also expect to see a few new faces in black and gold this winter. Elaina had good perspective about her upcoming senior year. "It’s all about having fun at the end of the day, but it’s also about making one another better so that’s what we hope for. Of course the goal is to make it to state and win and I am pretty confident we can do that." Jones has generated interest from colleges across Divisions, and holds offers from Division 1 and Division 2 schools. When asked what will ultimately help her to make her college decision, she rattled off a concise set of criteria. "Population, ranking for my major, location and definitely where I feel most comfortable." Be on the lookout for a commitment from Elaina relatively soon. She said that she hopes to make her college sometime in September before the high school season starts. <em>Cover photo courtesy of Korey McDermott, SportsEngine</em>