NMCC's Jadis Jones thriving in basketball after leaving football behind

New Madrid County Central senior Jadis Jones recalled the sense of relief he felt when he began his final football season having decided on his college future.

He was slated to play football at Coastal Carolina of the Sun Belt Conference, but on Dec. 15, 2023, he announced on Instagram his commitment, the closure of his recruitment for football, and reopening for basketball.

"I only played football for a couple of years, so just coming out of being good and getting a lot of big school (offers), better than basketball, I thought it was something I was into," Jones said. "But just getting close to that decision of signing, talking to family, and just seeing and knowing what that is going to be like, I didn't think it was something I would be comfortable with."

This season, the reigning Semoball Awards Boys' Basketball Player of the Year is enjoying a stellar senior season. He's not just a star player in the Southeast Missouri area, he's the area's biggest star. Everywhere he goes, he's met with young fans after his games who want to play like him when they get older. Jones is also met with college coaches, including Southeast Missouri State's brass, who would want nothing more than to bring him into the fold.

Jones said he is aware of when he is being scouted by college coaches and will make his decision within "the next couple of months."

"I've talked to a lot of coaches," Jones said. "I'm just trying to do what I know I can do just to keep their interests."

Jones was coming off a 37-point game entering the Eagles' game at Jackson on Friday. He scored 18 points against Jackson but contributed plenty to BJ Williamson's 22 points. With every fastbreak, Jones had a chance to put on a dunk show in front of SEMO head coach Brad Korn, but instead passed it to his fellow senior for easy layups.

"I'm not trying to pad my stats and make myself look good," said Jones, who recently scored his 2,000th career point. "I want to make my teammates look good too. So any chance I got to see them succeed, I'm gonna pass it up to him."

New Madrid has seen a lot of success with the duo of Jones and Williamson, who recently passed the 1,000-point career milestone. The Eagles won their first district championship since 2015 when they were freshmen in 2021. The Eagles finished in third place in the state during their sophomore year and won the Class 3 state championship last year.

"The team understands that we can't live off of what we did last year," Jones said. "We can only build off of it and just try to get it again."

With longtime assistant Dontre Jenkins in his first season as the head coach, the Eagles are 22-1 and ranked the No. 1 small-town team in the nation by MaxPreps. Jones said the difference between the Eagles under his current coach and newly retired legend Lennies McFerren is in the pacing on offense.

"It's more up-to-date," Jones said. "It's more like get it and go. We plan to be more fast ... I think we're doing a good job of that. I think if we go into games like we did [Friday], we play four quarters, especially with a team like Jackson, that's a good shooting team with a lot of good players. I think we got a good chance every game."

The Eagles will travel to take on undefeated Sikeston on Tuesday, Feb. 13. The Bulldogs won the first matchup 72-70 to win the SEMO Conference Tournament title on Dec. 8, 2023, and are the top-ranked team in Class 5 according to MaxPreps.

"I feel like if we go into every game playing fun, we're going to be hard to beat," Jones said.