The Missouri basketball program has landed its first commitment in the 2022 recruiting class. East St. Louis point guard Christian Jones announced his pledge to the Tigers on Friday evening, according to his Instagram account.
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Missouri's interest in the 6-foot-4 Jones progressed quickly over the past few weeks. Running with the Brad Beal Elite AAU squad on the Nike EYBL circuit, Jones started to turn some heads during the spring, and over the past two weeks, he's landed offers from Denver, DePaul and Missouri. The Tiger offer came after Jones took an unofficial visit to campus on June 24 along with his high school teammate, 2023 prospect Macaleab Rich .
On his visit, Jones bonded with Missouri head coach Cuonzo Martin , a fellow former East St. Louis native. The next day, Jones told PowerMizzou , he was hearing from the Tiger staff "constantly." A little more than a week later, he announced his decision.
Part of the reason Jones has flown under the radar prior to the past few weeks is because East St. Louis played just 15 games last season, all against local competition. During the shortened season, Jones averaged 11.2 points, 4.2 rebounds and 6.3 assists.
While it's difficult to gauge exactly how many high school prospects we expect Missouri to sign in the class of 2022 because of the additional year of eligibility granted all players by the NCAA as well as the one-time transfer waiver, we anticipate the Tigers adding at least one more in addition to Jones. Jones is one of several St. Louis-area players in the 2022 class to have been offered by Mizzou, joining Chaminade big man Tarris Reed , Pattonville guard Kellen Thames and wing Jonathan Dunn , who started his high school career in St. Louis before transferring to We Are United prep in Branson.
