CENTERBURG – Centerburg High School basketball player Carter Jones and fellow Trojan baseball player Tyler Harry each took the next step in their lives.
Both seniors signed their National Collegiate Letter of Intent at the Centerburg Middle School gym on Nov. 11 with family members, classmates and school officials looking on.
Jones, the Trojans’ 6-foot-5, 200-pound, all-around threat has decided to stay close to home. Last season’s KMAC Player of the Year committed to Mount Vernon Nazarene University, where he will play basketball while he fulfills his ambition to become a teacher.
Jones averaged 18 points and nearly 10 rebounds per game for the Trojans, shooting 48.3 percent from the floor last season. He earned DIII first team Central District and second team All-Ohio honors.
“I know that I'm going to have to compete for minutes in my (college) freshman year,” Jones said. “I know it's not going to be handed to me. I'm going to try to apply the things I'm best at now.”
MVNU’s program in education along with its modern athletic facilities, including Ariel Arena, are only part of the reason Jones opted to go with the Cougars.
“The Christian aspect is important to me,” Jones said. “That's important to my development as a man.
"Also, I enjoy the subjects of English and history. I know that if I get a good understanding of the subject, I can teach it to people and make it enjoyable.”
Jones is taking English and psychology to earn credits toward his freshman year.
In the meantime, Harry will take to the sky.
Harry, a pitcher, who committed to Fairmont State University in West Virginia near Morgantown, wants to be a cargo pilot. His decision to attend Division II Fairmont State stemmed from a baseball camp he attended there in February.
“That was the first time I had ever set foot on their campus,” Harry said. “They had tons of kids there, trying to get their name out there. Afterward, the pitching coach came over to me and said something like, ‘Hey, I'd like for you to stick around.’ So we talked after and he said, ‘If you were a senior, we would offer you right now.’”
Fairmont State wasted no time landing the hard-throwing righty once his junior year was over.
Last spring’s scholastic baseball season was canceled due to COVID-19 restrictions, but Harry was able to play travel ball for the Triple Crown Royals. This fall, due to recent Tommy John surgery, he will not take the mound as a Trojan but will rather spend his senior season at first base while he heals and works toward his private pilot’s license.
