Apple Valley native and Timberwolves first-round pick Tyus Jones spent Tuesday at the White House in Washington D.C.
Jones and his former teammates at Duke were in the nation’s capital to celebrate their NCAA Championship, when Duke beat Wisconsin 68-63 to capture the national title in April.
“We put any other plans we had aside and made this the number one priority for sure,” Jones told the Duke Chronicle. “It’s like a family reunion – the past 24, 36 hours have truly been amazing.”
WCCO notes that President Obama applauded Duke and even gave a special shoutout to Jones for being named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player.
That's our guy, @Tyusjones06
🏀🏀 RT @bzcohen: History was just made at the White House. pic.twitter.com/fwzZkhvPeS— Jose Fonseca (@BestCutManInMBB) September 8, 2015
Jones scored a game-high 23 points, 19 of which came in the second half, including a couple of big buckets down the final stretch.
And this kid is a freshman. RT @byDavidGardner: Tyus Stones https://t.co/vvQ9GpAivp
— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) April 7, 2015
It wasn’t long after leading the Blue Devils to the national title that Jones announced he would leave Duke to put his name in the NBA Draft. The Timberwolves then traded two second-round picks to Cleveland to get Jones.
It won’t be long until Jones is back on the basketball court. The Wolves open preseason play on Oct. 7 against Oklahoma City.
