Josh Jones flying high with Louisville Cardinals
LOUISVILLE, KY (BVM) — The high school sports scene had definitely taken notice of the name Josh Jones over the past four years. Whether it was on the soccer field or the basketball court, because of Jones’ impact, North Penn High School athletics were a force to be reckoned with. However, now graduated, Jones is wasting little time making his presence felt at the collegiate level.
In high school, Jones was nominated for the Pennsylvania State Player of the Year for soccer and was the leading scorer on the basketball team. The multisport athlete also led the Knights to their first soccer state championship in school history in 2019 along with now Lafayette College sophomore Carter Houlihan. Some might have thought all his success in high school would not translate into college. However, for Jones, the transition to Louisville University could not have gone more smoothly.
“My experience so far at Louisville has been fantastic,” Jones said. “It has been great to be around a lot of like minded guys who are trying to get to the next level. The team has some great chemistry and all the guys mesh together well. Off the field, classes have been going great and I’ve met a lot of new people. I’m really enjoying this new phase of my career and this next part of my life in general.”
On Sept. 17 the Cardinals found themselves in a battle with Syracuse. The score was 4-4 and heading into overtime. Many Louisville fans around the country looked towards the team’s leading goal scorers Aboubacar Camara or Pedro Fonseca for the win. However, what they got instead, was a hungry and eager defenseman from Lansdale, Pennsylvania.
“I think that people around the country are just now realizing how dangerous I can be in the attack on set pieces,” Jones said. “I am starting to get double teamed on corner kicks and free kicks, but that is nothing I am not used to. I have a lot of great balls being played to me on set pieces and I think I have the easy job which to just finish, which I’ve been doing all my life, so obviously scoring that game winner in OT felt great,” Jones said.
Everyone who surrounds Jones knows just how hard he is on himself. He expects to perform at the highest level and to the best of his abilities at all times and despite the red-hot start from the 6-foot-6 freshman, he still sees a ton of room for improvement.
“I am honestly never satisfied,” Jones said. “You could say that I have played well enough to earn a starting role and contribute for a top program, but I know that at the end of the day I can always get better. I think that I came into preseason with the right mindset and told myself I would play right away. However, I’d say that what I would most like to improve upon is my speed of play. Because at the collegiate level, the game moves so fast and you need to learn to adapt quickly.”
The Cardinals are off to a red hot start this season posting a 7-2 record, with one loss coming from No.10 ranked Kentucky. This past week, the United Soccer Coaches Poll ranked the Cards at No.14, however, for Jones, a top-15 ranking isn’t all he’s looking for.
“The sky is the limit for this group,” Jones said. “We hit a few bumps in the road early on, but I think we are playing some great soccer right now. I would not want to play us if I was on another team. Our main job is obviously to win the national championship. Before that, we want to capture the ACC regular season title and then the ACC tournament championship. We know what it takes to accomplish our goals this season and I cannot wait to see how far this team can go.”
