North Greenville Baseball great Utah Jones is returning to the baseball program as an Assistant Coach & Recruiting Coordinator.
Utah played two seasons for the NGU baseball program after transferring from the University of North Carolina. For the 2018 and 2019 seasons, Utah proved to be a consistent threat at the plate, batting .349 in 2018 and .403 in 2019, finishing with an average of .379 during hit time playing for the Trailblazers. He was a switch hitter while at North Greenville even though he had never batted from the left side of the plate prior to his time at NGU.
His play caught the attention of Major League Baseball as he was drafted in the 29th round of the 2019 MLB Draft by the Seattle Mariners. He played professionally in 2019 for the West Virginia Power as well as the Everett AquaSox before advancing to AA to play for the Arkansas Travelers, where he hit .400 for the season.
After his playing career, Utah became an advisor for high school recruits, working as Texarcana Director of Advising for Elite Sports Advising.
Utah comes from an accomplished baseball family. His father, Billy Jones, is a former Division I head coach, hitting coach, and recruiting coordinator. His coaching stops included being the head coach at Appalachian State from 2013-2016 as well as an assistant coach at Oregon State, Arizona State, NC State, Oklahoma State, and Tulane. Utah's older brother, Ryder Jones, is a former major league player for the San Francisco Giants.
"I'm incredibly excited to have Utah back in Tigerville. Utah is one of my favorite players that I ever coached, but also one of the best. He is the son of a coach, and possesses a very high baseball IQ, and I can't wait to see the impact he makes on our players and their development." - Landon Powell
