Freshman infielder Paul Jones II is the only Minnesotan on the University of Maryland baseball team. The Burnsville native and Cretin-Durham Hall graduate’s recent homecoming was a big hit, as Jones played a big role in his team’s three-game sweep over the host University of Minnesota Golden Gophers May 9-11 at Siebert Field.
“This was my first time coming home, first time playing here in college,” the six-foot Jones told the MSR after the Terps’ 8-5 victory May 10.
Jones that weekend drove in a run in all three victories, including his second home run of the season, a three-run shot in Game 1; went 2-for-4 in Game 2, his first career multi-hit game; and drove in two runs and stroked a double in Game 3.
What enticed me to my first college baseball game of the year was not only the unusually hot weather perfect to watch it from the stands, but also the fact that Maryland boasts seven Black players, including Jones. I don’t know if it was a record, but I once reported in 2015 that eight Black players took part in that year’s Big Ten baseball tournament held at the Twins’ downtown ballpark.
According to the NCAA, about 5% of non-HBCU college baseball players are Black.
When I told Jones that there were more Blacks on the Terps (7) than on the local major league club (3), he responded, “We got a good amount here. That was something that out of high school was really important to me.
“[Maryland] makes it really important to be a really diverse team, diverse group. We got a whole lot of different kinds of people,” Jones stressed.
The first-year player was a two-time All-State and two-time All-Suburban Conference selection (2023 and 2024), and was rated the No. 1 first baseman and sixth overall player in Minnesota. Jones also was rated high nationally, No. 10 at his position, and 368 among all players.
He also is the grandson of former Minnesota Twins great Cesar Tovar, a 2022 Minnesota Twins Hall of Fame inductee.
“I played football, basketball growing up, but baseball was just what I was good at,” admitted Jones. “I really just fell in love with [baseball] at a young age.”
Attending college has thus far met his expectations, he said. “It’s been everything I’ve ever wanted coming out of high school. It took me some time to get used to everything, but once I got used to it, it’s been everything I’ve ever wanted.”
Jones’ current major is kinesiology. “I thought it was just really cool, really interesting. I get to learn about the body, learn about muscles, things like that, which is something that could honestly help me playing baseball, just knowing how my body works,” he said.
“Obviously my plan is to play baseball as long as I can.”
Furthermore…
Amaya Battle (sociology) and Niamya Holloway (political science and a minor in German) both graduated last Sunday from the University of Minnesota. The two Gopher women’s basketball teammates and former local prep stars graduated in three years, and each will begin their master’s degree work in the fall.
Las Vegas started the 2025 WNBA season last weekend with a league-high 11 Blacks on its roster. Atlanta (10), Dallas (9) and Phoenix (9) are next. The hometown Lynx have six Blacks on their season roster.
Once again the W continues to be the hardest pro league to make a roster — 20 of 38 drafted rookies made opening day rosters.
Charles Hallman welcomes reader comments to challman@spokesman-recorder.com.