Eshaunte "Bear" Jones (born 1989, in California), is a college basketball player, who decommitted from the Oregon State Beavers. In June 2007, he announced his intention to pass on an oral commitment to Indiana University. In October 2007, he announced his decision to attend Oregon State University the following season after playing as a 5th year senior at Hargrave Military Academy in Virginia. He would late de-commit from Oregon State after a coaching change. In June 2008, Jones signed financial-agreement paperwork with the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. Because it was after the NCAA signing period, Coach Doc Sadler could not confirm at that time that he had accepted a scholarship. Once he cleared the NCAA clearinghouse process, he enrolled at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln for the 2008 fall term. On March 31, 2011, Jones announced that he was leaving Nebraska to take care of personal things back in Indiana with his family. After leaving Nebraska, Jones popped up at Division II Northern Kentucky.
High school career
Jones attended North Side High School in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where he was ranked as one of the top players in the state from the class of 2007. As a sophomore, he led the North Side Redskins to the Class 4A Sectional 6 title with a victory over Snider High School. The following year, nearly the entire team returned as Jones led them to their first Summit Athletic Conference Title in seven years, culminated with a win over Bishop Luers High School in By Hey Arena. After the season, he was named an Indiana Junior All-Star.
As a senior, Jones orally committed to play for coach Kelvin Sampson at Indiana University and then later in the day went on to score 37 points in his team's season opening scrimmage that night. He broke the school record for point in a single game twice in the first four games with 41 against Muncie Southside and 43 against Paul Harding High School in an overtime win. In December, he, alongside former Indiana University wide receiver Damarlo Belcher and former University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff forward Dominic Moore, led the Redskins to their first SAC Holiday Tournament Title since 1985 after losing in the finals the previous year. When the season ended, he averaged just under 28 points per game, finishing third in the state behind now former Indiana Hoosier and current New Orleans Hornet Eric Gordon and high-profile college recruit Deshaun Thomas, now of Ohio State.
Jones was named an Indiana Senior All-Star (the fifth in school history) before eventually de-committing from Indiana and choosing to spend a year of prep school at Hargrave Military Academy.
Hargrave Military Academy (2007–2008) Jones attended Hargrave Military Academy (Va.) for one season following high school. He played only a partial season because of a foot injury, but quickly made a name for himself. Jones averaged about 16 points and five rebounds per contest over the first 12 games of the 2007–08 season. His efforts helped Hargrave to a 12–0 start before the team continued on to an undefeated season with a 29–0 record, including winning the National Prep Invitational title. During the season, he signed a NLI with Oregon State.
Oregon State
In 2008, it was uncertain if Jones would end up at Oregon State as they signed a new coach for the 2008–2009 season and sources said that he had asked out of his national letter of intent upon request. He was later granted the release from Oregon State and within a short time agreed to sign with Nebraska.
Nebraska
True Freshman (2008–2009) Jones sat out his true freshman season in 2008–2009 as a medical redshirt. He scored 16 points in 16 minutes in a preseason exhibition before the decision to sit out the season to fix a previous foot injury from his one season at prep school. Before the redshirt, he played just 46 minutes over the first four games of the season, including only four painful minutes against Saint Louis in his final game of the year. He scored seven points and hit just 2-of-7 from the floor, including 2-of-5 shots from 3-point range, over those four contests. Jones added five rebounds but had just one assist to four turnovers before deciding to sit out the remainder of the season.
Redshirt Freshman (2009–2010) Jones returned from a redshirt season when he had his left foot and a sports hernia surgically repaired and played in 29 games, averaging 16.9 minutes per contest in his first extended college action. Jones averaged 6.0 points and 1.6 rebounds per game while adding 1.0 assist per contest.