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Report: JuCo point guard Chris Jones commits to Louisville

Chris Jones, Irvin Hollinger

Northwest Florida’s Chris Jones shoots over Seward County’s Irvin Hollinger in the first half of the semifinal game of the NJCAA basketball tournament on Friday, March 23, 2012, at the Sports Arena in Hutchinson, Kan. (AP Photo/Travis Morisse, The Hutchinson News)

AP

Rick Pitino cut ties with Cat Barber earlier this month, and many speculated that it was the result of the Cardinals targeting Northwest Florida’s point guard, Chris Jones.

It looks like that speculation has been proven correct.

Jones, the No. 1 JuCo player in the country, committed to Louisville on Monday.

Jones had taken an official visit to Louisville this past weekend, this third straight weekend on the road. He had also taken officials to Baylor and Oklahoma State. He’ll likely be the replacement for Peyton Siva at the starting point guard spot, fitting in with Russ Smith, Wayne Blackshear and Luke Hancock in the Cardinal’s perimeter rotation.

Perhaps the most interesting story line here is that Jones will finally be teaming up with Louisville’s sophomore guard Kevin Ware. Both players were top 50 players in the Class of 2011 that had signed with Bruce Pearl at Tennessee, and both left when Pearl was fired.

It will also be interesting to see what happens with Terry Rozier. Rozier was originally a member of Louisville’s Class of 2012, but he didn’t make it into school this year. He’ll be spending a season at Hargrave Military Academy, a prep school that Louisville has close ties with. Montrezl Harrell went there, Class of 2013 commit Anton Gill currently goes there and assistant coach Kevin Keatts used to coach there.

Did Jones just take Rozier’s spot?

Rob Dauster is the editor of the college basketball website Ballin’ is a Habit. You can find him on twitter @robdauster.