By LARRY VAUGHT

Nick Daschel covered the Kentucky Derby twice in 1995 and 1997 and still remembers the excitement. “There is nothing like walking on the track from the barn to the paddock with 20 pumped up horses and their rich guy owners,” Daschel said.

However, he also knows Kentucky basketball fans are more interested in where Oregon prep star Terrence Jones will announce he is going to school. Kentucky, Washington and Kansas are considered the frontrunners even though Oregon, UCLA and Oklahoma are still on his list.

Daschel says the 6:30 p.m. press conference at Jones’ school can be viewed at http://highschoolsports.oregonlive.com/. Jones will share the podium with three of his teammates — 6-7 Stephen Madison (No. 100 small forward), 6-2 Antoine Hosely and 6-6 Terrence Ross (No. 30 in ESPNU 100).

“The Oregonian/OregonLive is planning to live stream the announcement,” Daschel said.

He’s covered Jones and offered these observations when I asked him about his talent and off-court personality:

“Jones is a pretty good kid. I wrote a fairly exhaustive profile about him around the first week of March. He’s sort of quiet, and his coach will say he’s shy. Not sure if I’d go that far. His cousins include Damon Stoudamire, now a Memphis Grizzlies assistant.

“In high school, Jones played more wing than inside, though I think his coach would liked to have seen him play more inside. My guess is he’s a college small forward. Hasn’t got into trouble as a kid, other than the usual teen-age stuff. The one knock I suppose on him is that he’s a little lazy.

“I don’t know if anyone knows the school he’ll pick … he’s that secretive. I’ve talked to his mom several times recently, and she doesn’t even seem to know where he’s leaning.”

The 6-9 Jones averaged 32 points, 13 rebounds, five assists, three blocked shots and three steals  per game. He helped his team win three straight state championships. ESPN ranks Jones among the top 15 players nationally and he was a two-time Oregon Class 5-A player of the year.

Jones scored 810 points his senior season to become the sixth player in Oregon prep history to surpass 800 points in a season. He totaled 1,793 points for his career.

After the season, Jones continued to pile up awards and honors: 5A Portland Interscholastic League player of the year, McDonald’s All-American, Parade All-American, Nike Hoop Summit invitee.

He’s a big piece for John Calipari’s second Kentucky team and even though no one seems sure where he’ll go, the feeling here remains that he will pick the Wildcats. But at least we will know soon.