One of Wisconsin’s 2025 commits stole the show at the FIBA U19 World Cup this week.
Wisconsin Badgers commit Hayden Jones has been making a lot of waves this week, starring in the FIBA U19 World Cup for the New Zealand team.
Jones, a three-star recruit in the Class of 2025, was one of the top-performing players at the World Cup, helping lead New Zealand to the third-place game, where they ultimately fell short 91-87 to Slovenia on Sunday.
Still, the 6’5 guard had a strong performance, scoring 21 points on 50 percent shooting as the team’s leading scorer, while hauling in seven rebounds.
It was the fourth performance Jones had over 15 points, which included a 23-point outing in the quarterfinals in a big win over Switzerland. Over the seven games, Jones averaged 14.4 points and 7.7 rebounds, with the latter ranking ninth across all performers at the World Cup.
He was joined by fellow Badgers commit, 2026 guard Jackson Ball, on the New Zealand team. Both were starters, with Ball playing more of a complementary role throughout the World Cup.
Ball didn’t have his strongest game Sunday in the third-place game, being held scoreless in 27 minutes of action, but did dish out five assists in the four-point loss. Ball shined earlier in the week, scoring 12 points against Team USA in the semifinals, while having other performances of 17, 19, and 12 points as well.
He averaged 9.9 points, 2.4 rebounds, and 3.1 assists, while playing 27.3 minutes per contest. Now, with the FIBA U19 World Cup over, Jones will be heading to Madison, while Ball has another year overseas.