Donald Jones recently completed a tremendous three-year varsity football career at Christian Brothers Academy, were he was the lead component to the Brothers winning three straight Section II Class AA championships. When he begins his college career, Jones will not be far away as he has decided to compete next for the University at Albany.

Jones, named the Times Union’s Large School Offensive Athlete of the Year in 2021, 2022 and 2023, played quarterback, running back and wide receiver on offense and defensive back during his career at CBA.

“The coaching staff there is one I have been around attending their summer camps,” Jones said. “I feel very comfortable with them and felt it is a good situation for me.”

Jones also considered LIU and Stony Brook before selecting the Great Danes, a program that advanced to the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) national semifinals during the 2023 season.

The senior excelled on offense and defense for the Brothers and likely will continue as a defensive player in college.

“They said defense, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it was offense too,” Jones said. “I have been working on my hands. I took a week off after the season ended and I have been working out with (younger brother) Archie with him throwing and me catching.”

Jones is the only starter to play all three seasons under the tutelage of CBA coach Bobby Burns. He led the Brothers to a trio of title victories against Shenendehowa, the last one coming when the Brothers prevailed 18-15 at Troy High when Jones threw a touchdown pass, caught a touchdown pass and returned an interception 98 yards for a touchdown.

After the victory, Burns said of Jones, “I challenged him to be the best player on the field tonight and he was. We had some moments where we really didn’t play well at all, but really good teams find a way to win whether they’ve got to do this, that or the other thing.”

Jones has not settled on a major yet. The senior says it is hard to believe he soon will be beginning his college football career.

“Everything has gone by in a blink of an eye,” Jones said.

VERMONT AT UALBANY

ALBANY — Beauty was in the eyes of the trophy-holder. The America East women’s basketball championship game last March was attractive only to those who savor defense.

The University of Albany and Vermont shot a combined 24 percent, resulting in 89 rebounds. Vermont had three players in double figures for rebounding, and the Catamounts persevered for a 38-36 victory at Patrick Gymnasium and the conference’s bid to the NCAA Tournament.

The teams had tied for the regular-season title at 14-2. Vermont got the No. 1 seed and home court for the final because of a tie-breaker. That underscores the importance of regular-season games such as Thursday night’s meeting between UAlbany and Vermont at Broadview Center.

“We don’t go to one site and play back-to-back-to-back (in the tournament),” Great Danes coach Colleen Mullen said Wednesday. “You’re hosting if you’re the higher seed.

“Playing in Patrick Gym last year, with a sold-out crowd in a small gym, it was an electric environment, but it was a tough environment to play in. We are comfortable at home. Broadview is an amazing place to play. We have a great record at home. We want to give us ourselves the best chance to go to the NCAA Tournament, and being able to host and being the 1-seed is what makes every game in the conference important.”

Not only are the Great Danes (18-2, 7-0 America East) on a 14-game winning streak — tied for third-longest in the nation entering Wednesday — they have won 20 consecutive home games. That includes the final 10 of last season, when Hudson Valley Community College was their home base.

UAlbany could be a bit compromised against Vermont (14-7, 6-1), whose only conference loss was Jan. 6 at Maine. The Danes lost guards Meghan Huerter (right ankle) and Lilly Phillips (lower right leg) in their 54-46 victory over New Hampshire on Saturday.

“They’re day-to-day,” Mullen said. “They haven’t practiced. They’ve done some shooting. We’re hopeful that they’ll be able to play, but we’re not sure. We’re preparing for the worst, hoping for the best.”

The Danes have only 10 players. Seven of them are averaging more than 17 minutes per game.

“Everyone (has to) just stay ready,” said graduate forward Helene Haegerstrand, averaging 9.8 points and 28.8 minutes a game. “It doesn’t matter if you start or not, we’re all getting minutes, and we all have to perform in our minutes to be able to do what we do.”

Haegerstrand, Phillips, Lucia Decortes and Kayla Cooper all were a part of that tournament game in Vermont, the lowest-scoring in America East history.

“That was a grind-out fight,” Mullen said. “No basket came easy, and the difference last year was that Emma Utterback (18 of Vermont’s 38 points) had that breakout speed in transition that we didn’t have, and she got some easy baskets.”

Heading into Thursday’s game, UAlbany topped the nation’s 348 Division I schools in scoring defense

(50.6). Vermont was seventh.

“We have to have another defensive-minded game to stop them in transition, but figure out a way to score a little bit better,” Mullen said. “The only way to do that against a team that’s so disciplined and methodical is to move the ball side to side, make them play for a lot of the shot clock, then getting the ball inside and getting their bigs in foul trouble.”

UALBANY AT VERMONT

ALBANY — At one time it was quite the rivalry. The University at Albany and Vermont men’s basketball programs combined for 15 of the past 21 America East titles, although 10 of those belong up north to the Catamounts, who have maintained a level of excellence.

Vermont, the two-time defending champion, has won 20 consecutive conference games, the longest current streak in Division I, and will attempt to extend that Thursday night at home against a Great Danes program that is trying to return to the level of its past glory.

UAlbany (11-10, 3-3) seeks its first winning season since 2017-18. The Great Danes have won just one of the past 15 meetings against the Catamounts — a 63-62 victory in 2021 at Burlington — with the 14 losses by an average of 14 points.

“It’s a game people circle on their calendar because of the history, what’s happened before our time,” third-year UAlbany coach Dwayne Killings said. “Our kids understand that. The interesting piece with the (transfer) portal, you’re trying to inject that into guys like Sebastian (Thomas), Amar’e (Marshall), Muneer (Newton). This is foreign territory for them in terms of the magnitude of the game, what it all means. It’s the next game on the schedule in their minds.”

Thomas (Rhode Island), Marshall (Hofstra), Newton (William Penn), Tyler Bertram (Charlotte) and Marcus Filien (Cornell) all transferred into the program last offseason, but they didn’t have to play in the America East to appreciate what Vermont (16-5, 6-0) has done.

“When I was at URI, I watched their games,” said Thomas, a teammate of the Catamounts’ Ileri Ayo-Faleye at Rhode Island. “I just know they win. They have a winning culture. They’re hard to beat. You’ve got to be very disciplined to beat them. It’ll be a test for us.”

“Defense has to be the main priority vs. them,” Marshall said after doing film study on Vermont. “You can’t close out any of those guys with a short hand because they all can shoot it.”

The Danes, finishing up a three-game road swing, are coming off an 86-79 victory at New Hampshire. They had lost their previous three games, allowing an average of 92 points.

Two of UAlbany’s three conference victories have been on the road. The Danes did not win a road America East game last season, although winning in Burlington will be a stern test. Vermont leads the all-time series, 25-9.

“What they do is they play their game there,” Killings said. “They play with great energy, they get the crowd behind them, they try to be disruptive. … They execute at a high level. What they do so well is they put pressure on you. They put pressure on your defense because they space it for their shooters, they don’t turn the ball over (league-best 7.8 turnover per game), and they share the ball and move it.”

Notes: Danes starting forward Marcus Jackson is questionable for the Vermont game because of a hand injury. He was wearing a hand split and did not practice Wednesday. “He’ll get re-evaluated, and we’ll make a decision,” Killings said. … Guard Will Amica, who hasn’t played since Jan. 2, continues to recover from a hamstring injury and also is listed as questionable.