Rose basketball highlights
FRI.| 4-12-24 | ENTERTAINMENT
Jones jumps to the next level at VT
THURS| 12-15-22 | SPORTS
Rose senior, Louis Mitchell Jones, IV signed his National Letter of Intent to play baseball on Thursday, Dec. 8 to the University of Virginia Tech (VT).
“I felt very relieved to sign, I had been verbally committed for a long time,” Jones said.
Jones plays on the varsity baseball team at Rose and has hopes of making a state championship run after a previous state championship title two years ago and a deep run last year.
“My goal is to win another state championship before I graduate, that's my goal for this season,” Jones said.
Jones has been playing baseball since he could walk and had hopes of playing college baseball even though he took an unexpected route.
“I've played since I was four and The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill had always been my dream school and even after Virginia Tech reached out, I didn't see myself playing there,” Jones said.
The environment and the successes of the Hokies influenced his decision.
“I took my visit to VT and fell in love with the atmosphere and the winning culture they have, and
Photo by Riley Harris
especially the coaching staff played a huge role in me deciding VT would be my home for the next couple of years,” Jones said.
Coming into a top 10 division one program is never easy and can be a challenge to an incoming freshman to win a starting job against guys who have been in the program for years.
“My goal for my freshman year is to go out compete and push someone for their position and maybe win it. I'm all about competition and I'm ready to get out there and get after it,” Jones said.
Moving from Greenville to Blacksburg is definitely a commitment to leave your family and friends hours away.
“I will definitely get homesick and miss my friends,” Jones said. “It'll be weird going from hanging out with my guys every night of the week to seeing them maybe once every couple months I will definitely be making a lot of phone calls home,” Jones said.
Going to play power five baseball puts you in line for a career in baseball post college graduation and Jones looks to live out his dream.
“Playing baseball after college is definitely something I think about all the time,” Jones said. “It would be a dream come true and I'm going to get a business degree but I'm definitely going to pursue my dream,” Jones said.
Jones has big expectations for his future, but right now he is more focused on the short term, rather than looking on to VT.
“I'm most excited about this coming up season,” Jones said. “I want to win a state championship and we have the pieces to do it this year,” Jones said.
