Former Wisconsin recruit Noah Reynolds, NJCAA national champion Elijah Jones commit to UWGB men's basketball
This has been one of the best weeks yet for the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay men’s basketball team since it hired Sundance Wicks as its new coach last month.
The Phoenix landed commitments from two talented guards in Elijah Jones and Noah Reynolds, with Reynolds coming to Green Bay after previously committing to Wisconsin. He will get to play for his older brother, Nic, who Wicks recently hired as an assistant.
The 6-foot-3 point guard is one of the best transfers UWGB has landed in program history. He spent his first two years at Wyoming, averaging 14.5 points, 2.2 rebounds and 2.1 assists as a sophomore last season before he was shut down in February after sustaining multiple concussions.
He did not immediately return a text message about his commitment.
Reynolds' return to health, along with the addition of Jones, gives fans hope that perhaps the Phoenix can rebound quicker than expected after a dismal 3-29 season in 2022-23.
At least, that’s what Jones had on his mind Tuesday night when talking about his decision to commit to UWGB.
Rebuilding? Reconstructing?
The 6-foot-7, 218-pound Jones has two seasons of eligibility remaining, and he doesn’t plan on wasting them with those kinds of expectations.
He’s thinking bigger.
“That’s definitely the vision,” Jones said. “People said it might take a couple years, but I feel like the coaches have assembled a good group of guys that could really reestablish Green Bay basketball this year and the year after that.
“Coach did a great job recruiting players.”
Per NCAA rules, Wicks is not allowed to comment on potential recruits until all their paperwork has been filed.
Elijah Jones is an NJCAA national champion
He and his coaching staff are getting a versatile player in Jones, who helped lead John A. Logan College (Illinois) to the NJCAA Division I national championship last month after a 73-70 title game win over Northwest Florida State College.
Jones showed in that game why he provides good value, mostly because he doesn’t have to be shooting well or scoring a lot of points to have a significant impact.
He shot 3-for-10 and scored 6 points in the contest, but he also finished with a game-high 12 rebounds and added 3 steals, 2 assists and a block.
Logan trailed by four points entering halftime, but Jones grabbed 11 boards in the final 20 minutes to spark his team.
It’s the same type of effort he showed throughout the season while starting all 35 games. Jones averaged 8.1 points, 6.7 rebounds and 1.8 assists, shooting 60.6% overall and 52.8% from 3-point range.
“Yeah, I could score 20 points, but I just do so much more for the team,” Jones said. “Some people might notice. Some people might not notice. But at the end of the day, I’m just a winning player.”
Jones bet on himself by going the junior college route last season after spending his first two years at the University of Southern Indiana, which transitioned from DII to DI at the beginning of last season but isn’t eligible to play in the NCAA Tournament until the 2026-27 campaign.
He always was confident he was a DI player. The fit at Southern Indiana wasn’t quite right for him after he committed to the school following a standout prep career at Marian Catholic in Chicago Heights, Illinois.
Jones wanted to at least have an opportunity to play in the Big Dance, and he knew there was no chance of that at the school before he graduates.
He also felt his development wasn’t being held to a standard he wanted it to be held to while with the program.
Jones averaged 1.1 points and played 10 games as a freshman in 2020-21.
He made a larger impact as a sophomore the following season when he averaged 4.7 points and 4 rebounds while starting 16 games, but he believed it was time to move on and found a new home at Logan.
It turned out to be the perfect school and steppingstone to bigger things.
“I knew that Logan was a very highly touted place,” Jones said. “They told me, ‘If you come here and work hard, you will have offers to choose from.’ I just had to come here and work hard, and that’s what I did.”
Jones visited Southeast Missouri State and Charleston Southern along with UWGB after entering the transfer portal.
He was familiar with Phoenix assistant coach Pat Monaghan, who recruited him while serving as an assistant at Southern Illinois.
Sundance Wicks' personality impresses recruits
It might start to sound like a broken record with each new recruit that commits to UWGB, but Jones also came away impressed with Wicks and his personality when he made his visit here last weekend.
“I liked all the coaches,” Jones said. “But Coach Wicks, his energy is very infectious, it seems like. Not many coaches have that energy. Looking at the roster he’s building, I think I fit in great with who he has coming in.
“The roster. The fit. How far it is from home. Three hours from Chicago, so some of my family can come and see me play now. Just a lot of factors.”
Jones isn’t just familiar with Monaghan, but also some new teammates.
He watched Foster Wonders play a few times while Wonders was at Southern Illinois last season. He’s played against Rich Byhre and Rockhurst University. Reynolds played for the same AAU coach as Jones.
He also has a prior connection with incoming high school guard and fellow Chicago area talent David Douglas Jr. The two used to work out together with former Chicago Bulls guard Craig Hodges.
As he reflected on his first three years of college basketball, the best still could be yet to come with how much he has improved.
“Every year I look back at where I started from the beginning of the year,” Jones said. “I look back at how much stronger I have gotten, how much smarter I’ve gotten on the court, what type of plays I’m making.
“It’s just crazy to think about. It’s crazy to think about for sure.”
This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: UWGB men's basketball lands recruits Noah Reynolds and Elijah Jones
