Hutchinson’s Samajae Haynes-Jones carries NJCAA Tournament buzz into summer

There’s creating buzz, which Hutchinson Community College point guard Samajae Haynes-Jones did during the NJCAA basketball tournament in March, and there’s sustaining it.

The second part is much more difficult.

“I think how he played against Northwest Florida State opened a bunch of eyes,” Hutchinson coach Steve Eck said. “And ever since then, my phone has been ringing a bunch.”

Haynes-Jones turned heads with a 33-point performance in an NJCAA quarterfinal win over Northwest Florida State – going head-to-head against Texas Tech’s Shadell Millinghaus – on the way to the Blue Dragons finishing second in the tournament.

It capped a stellar freshman season for the 5-foot-11 Wichita East product, who averaged 15.4 points, 3.5 rebounds and 2.4 assists on the way to second-team All-Jayhawk Conference honors.

With scholarship offers on the table from Robert Morris and East Tennessee State — coached by former Wichita State assistant Steve Forbes — Haynes-Jones kept upping his profile this summer after standout performances at the Jerry Mullen JC Top 100 Camp in Overland Park and the All-American Juco Showcase Elite 80 in Atlanta.

“My wrist was a little swollen and my jumper was a little off at (Mullen), so I had to really focus on getting the team involved and doing all the stuff that point guards need to do,” said Haynes-Jones, who led East to a Class 6A title in 2015. “That means playing hard-nosed defense and creating shots for other people, which I thought I did pretty well.”

Back to full strength in Atlanta, Haynes-Jones shined in a matchup against Georgia Highland guard Tylik Evans, the Georgia Collegiate Athletic Association Freshman of the Year.

“I was back to playing my game, and I think I took my defense to another level,” Haynes-Jones said. “I think that (matchup with Evans) was what a lot of the coaches wanted to see.”

WSU, Louisville, Cincinnati, Southern Mississippi, Houston and Illinois State have all shown interest in Haynes-Jones.

“He had a good year last year, but his recruitment depends a lot on how much strength he can add before next season,” Eck said. “One thing that he has done is get better at academics, so I think he should be alright. I think definitely mid-majors at this point, and maybe even a high-major minus (outside basketball’s elite programs).”

Eck’s point on Haynes-Jones’ dedication to school isn’t just lip service. He struggled at East to keep his grades up and despite interest from Division I schools, already knew he’d have to go the junior-college route by the time his senior year started.

Now, he’s on track to graduate from Hutchinson next spring and enroll at a four-year college next summer.

“I feel very blessed to be in the situation I’m in right now, because I didn’t have the focus on my grades that I needed to have in high school,” Haynes-Jones said. “A big part of that was I thought I could learn everything by myself, do everything by myself. I was stubborn.

“Now, if there’s a way to try and get help, I go for it. I try to get all the help from the tutors that I can, so I consider myself pretty fortunate.” 　

This story was originally published July 25, 2016 at 2:26 PM with the headline "Hutchinson’s Samajae Haynes-Jones carries NJCAA Tournament buzz into summer."