Thursday night I was one of the many in the seemingly sold out Madison Square Garden for the Ameritas Insurance Classic where Duke squared off with Texas Tech. The crowd was electric from the tip, capitalized by a fast break alley oop from Freshman sensation, Zion Williamson, in the early going. It is easy to be in absolute awe of Williamson’s athleticism, grit, and contagious energy. You can even fall in love with RJ Barret’s killer instinct, passion, and leadership qualities he constantly shows. To this point, you may be underwhelmed by Cam Reddish seemingly struggle to not be the number one option on a team; although, there is one more freshman in the Cam Reddish named Four Kill4s. Tre Jones.
When the game was in the balance last night, Tre Jones would always make a play to get his team going. He finished with 6 steals and was all over the floor on the defensive end. I have been following Tre since his brother Tyus came to Duke. You may remember Tyus as the player who hit the dagger against Wisconsin in the 2015 title game. Tyus always made the right basketball play, especially when it was needed and Tre seems to have inherited that ability. It is the main reason why I was ecstatic when Tre chose to play at Duke. He is not a player that is going to jump off the screen like Zion and RJ. He is not a player who has in the gym range like Cam. He is just steady Tre and that is more than enough.
I tweeted last night that if you watch Duke and aren’t impressed with Tre Jones, then you are just a Duke hater. He won’t be a top 10 pick like the others. He may not even have the ceiling the others have, but you know what you are going to get from Tre every single night. If you watch the game and aren’t convinced, check the minutes log. Coach K does not take Tre out of the game unless it’s a wrap, kid must be pretty good, no?
