I first saw JoJo Mitchell III on the court as a high schooler at Cretin, where he stood out as the game’s best player that night. While in the lobby during the game, I ran into Joseph Mitchell Jr., whom I have known for quite a while. To my surprise, he told me that JoJo was his son.
From then on, I kept track of the younger Mitchell. Although I primarily cover pro and college sports, I felt that JoJo would be an ideal fit for St. Thomas.
Lo and behold, a couple of years later, the 6-2 Mitchell is a UST freshman this season.
“I knew JoJo well. I’ve seen him play a lot,” said Tommies Assistant Coach Cameron Rundles of Mitchell.
Speaking with him after a practice, the first-year player pointed out that the speed of the game is obviously different from prep to college.
“I feel like that was the biggest difference from high school to college,” said Mitchell. “In high school guys could shoot. Guys in college, they might not be able to shoot like that, but they can hit open shots. That’s been the biggest jump.
“From the beginning of summer workouts, to now, I’ve definitely gotten a lot quicker, a lot stronger too,” he stressed.
The elder Mitchell earlier told us, “It was a very important decision with JoJo deciding on where he wanted to continue his education and his basketball dreams and hopes, and it was tough. We grew up as a family and as a father and son through that whole recruiting journey. There’s a lot of things that you go through as a father and son when you begin sifting through the different schools and the different pluses and minuses and things like that.”
“There’s no exact blueprint or guide to help you or to help guarantee the process goes seamlessly without any hiccups. So, it’s really trial and error.”
Joseph’s second-oldest son eventually settled on and signed with St. Thomas.
“A lot of hard work went into it but for St. Thomas, what really separated them from the rest, I would have to say would be Coach Johnny Tauer,” reiterated Joseph. “The deciding factor was Coach Tauer being able to see JoJo’s complete journey from a freshman in high school all the way to his senior year. You really want to try to put your child with a coach … who values family and really taking care of your child in the next phase of their life.”
JoJo said that he knows he’s far from being a complete player at this stage of his career, but he’s working on it: “Definitely my off-ball defense and my offensive rebounding and defensive rebounding,” he admitted. “I’m good on the ball but being better off the ball helps the team. It just put us in better positions to score in transition.”
Joseph added that he’s looking forward to watching his son play college ball, to watch his growth without having to travel too far from home.
“It’s always been a dream being born and raised from Minnesota to see your kids be able to play Division I basketball down the street from your home,” observed Joseph.
JoJo said college life, especially his classes, hasn’t surprised him so far. “One of the easiest parts for sure,” he added. He plans to study business. “I like to make money. I like to negotiate. I like to talk,” he said.
Joseph’s next-youngest son, Judah, is a junior at Bloomington Kennedy, where he is progressing as well.
“I think that JoJo and Judah are a reflection of some young men, some young fathers who sacrifice their time with a group of young boys to help them all pursue their dreams,” concluded Joseph.
Finally …
Black gymnasts Skye Blakely and Frederick Richard put on a show last weekend at the 2026 Artistic World Championships in the Netherlands.
Blakely (Frisco, Texas), the reigning world all-around champion, took gold in the women’s all-around, and Richard (Stoughton, Mass.) did the same in men’s floor exercise. Blakely also collected a silver in the women’s team event for the U.S. and bronzes in vault and uneven bars.
Charles Hallman welcomes reader responses at challman@spokesman-recorder.com.
Copyright © Charles Hallman