"This past year in high school, he averaged 19.2 points per game," said Nick Smith, who coaches Jones’s high school team. "That was at the top of our district, second only to Donald Sloan who signed with Texas A&M last year." Smith said that Jones was the top three point shooter in his district overall with 121 made baskets from behind the arc this past season, and that his all around performance was strong enough to win him first team recognition on the all district and all region squads as just a sophomore.

This summer Jones has been playing with the Dallas Showtyme AAU organization, coached by Erven Davis. Things have been progressing along nicely there also, according to Smith. "Things have been going really, really well for Demarius. He has been averaging close to 20 points per game playing with the Showtyme. In a couple of his recent tournaments, he even went off for 35 in one game and 38 in another."

Jones’s explosive scoring outbursts have sparked interest from a number of different colleges. According to Smith, phone calls have come in from Texas, SMU, TCU, North Texas and Alabama inquiring about Jones, and there has been mail from several southeastern schools such as Florida, Ole Miss, and Mississippi State.

At this point, Jones is content to let the process play out, and is not in a hurry to rush through the recruiting process. Smith said that Jones has started evaluating some of the schools recruiting him to see their style of play, and also to see what type of needs they have at scoring guard.

At the next level in college, Jones certainly projects as a scoring guard. "He will definitely play the two guard spot in college," Smith said. "He is a pure scorer who can do all of the things you need at that position. Just about the only thing that he needs to improve on is his ability to get to the hole more and to get more effective playing with contact so that he can get more trips to the foul line," Smith said. "He could also use some development with his upper body strength, but once he hits the weight room some more he should be able to take care of that just fine."

Jones is most effective on offense when he is able to spot oup off of a hard screen, Smith says. "You won’t block it. He gets the ball off well, and he does have NBA shooting range from the outside," Smith says. The other top attribute that Jones has is his ability to execute on the break. "He is great running the break with or without the ball," Smith said.

Jones’s AAU coach Davis gives him high marks as well. "Demarius is already one of the best scorers in the whole state," Davis said. "If he keeps on progressing like he has been, then he might even turn out to be one of the best scorers in the country."

Defensively, Jones has shown flashes, but is still working to get better. "He has improved," Smith said, "but he still has a way to go. When he plays against the really good players, then he does great. However, he needs to keep that same intensity all the time. He can really turn it up when he wants to."

Academically Jones is in good shape, according to Smith. "He’s going to have the grades. That will not be an issue. He hasn’t taken the SAT yet, so he will need to get himself ready and get his score on that."