Three years ago, Jonah Cox was a no-name recruit out of Class 1A Flatirons Academy who had his Division I plans scuttled due to a coaching change at Wichita State, and his senior season canned because of the pandemic.
So Cox, without fanfare or hype, entered the junior college circuit. All he’s done since is hit, and hit some more, while bootstrapping his way into a college baseball star and likely pick in the upcoming MLB Draft.
Cox dominated at Butler Community College as a freshman and Eastern Oklahoma State College as a sophomore before transferring to Oral Roberts. There, the 21-year-old rattled off a 47-game hit streak and won Summit League Player of the Year while helping the Golden Eagles back to the College World Series for the first time since 1978.
“To (bootstrap) like that, you have to have a desire to get better, to develop, and to know that you’re not a finished product and that you need to improve,” ORU coach Ryan Folmar said. “(Cox) was open to coaching, open to people helping him. And it takes a lot of work to do what he just did.
“That work ethic and that desire to improve is what is behind this kind of jump. And what’s most impressive is he’s still not a finished product — he still has room to develop and he has a strong work ethic to get him there (as a pro).”
Along the way to his meteoric college baseball rise, Cox played three different positions — shortstop at Butler, second base at Eastern Oklahoma and center field at ORU, the latter position being where he’s expected to play professionally.
At Butler in El Dorado, Kansas, Cox hit .397 with 10 homers and 49 steals in 53 games. The production didn’t slow down at Eastern Oklahoma in Wilburton, where he slashed .431/.502/.631 with 43 steals in 56 games. Those two stellar JuCo seasons set the stage for the third-longest hitting streak in NCAA history this year, when Cox batted .412 with 28 steals as an All-American.
Cox credited his three college baseball stops for molding him from a raw, small-school prep standout — at Flatirons Academy, Cox had only 10 other players in his program, and four other students in his graduating class — into one of the best batters in the country. In 2023 he led Division I with 114 hits.
“I’m blessed to have three separate coaching staffs that really took me in and taught me everything about baseball,” Cox said. “I’ve evolved as a player so much because I’ve had a lot of people in my life over the past few years who have taught me a ton, and I’ve listened. … I’m nothing without all those coaches who helped me to get to this stage.”
Cox has the athletic lineage, too, to suggest he can continue his ascent in minor-league baseball later this summer.
His dad, Darron Cox, was a catcher who was a fifth-round pick by the Reds out of the University of Oklahoma in 1989. The OU Hall of Famer played 14 seasons as a pro, including a stint in the majors with the Expos in 1999, when he batted .240 in 15 games with one homer. Darron Cox also spent four seasons coaching in the Rockies organization.
Cox’s mom, Karen Cox (nee Spicer), was a softball standout at OU; older brothers Caleb (the head coach at Garden City) and Joshua (who recently graduated from ORU) both played Division I baseball, and youngest sibling Emma is committed to play softball at Oregon.
Growing up, Cox would saunter into his father’s office to look at the elder Cox’s framed home run ball, among other MLB memorabilia that lit a fire in the young ballplayer — and gave him perspective when the accolades and attention started to pile up over the past three seasons as his plus-speed, advanced bat-to-ball skills and defensively versatility boosted his draft stock.
“The biggest thing my dad taught me was how to keep my head where my feet are,” Cox said. “I’ve never been thinking if there’s scouts in the stands, or the effect of this (hype) or that or the other — my mindset this whole year was, I’m at Oral Roberts and how can I help my team win today? How can I get better today? I had to keep my head where my feet are and I did.”
Texas A&M Corpus Christi assistant coach Noe Ruiz, who was Cox’s hitting coach at Eastern Oklahoma, sees Cox as a player with “a different baseball mind that most.”
“He’s a different student about hitting than I’ve ever been around,” Ruiz said. “He’s at the field all the time. It would be a two-o-clock doubleheader and we don’t have to be there until 11 a.m. for B.P., and Jonah will be out there with his little speaker and hitting off the tee at 8 a.m., going through his routine. It’s his meditation time.”
Cox is drawing serious interest from a handful of teams leading into the draft, set for July 9-11 in Seattle, including the Rockies, Padres, Dodgers, Cubs and Pirates. No matter where he lands, he wants to keep the momentum going with his bat at the next level.
“In my head, even after everything that’s happened this year, I’m still just the kid from Colorado, just playing baseball,” Cox said. “My next goal is to hear my name called, and hopefully make a lifelong dream come true. From there, the focus and work doesn’t stop.”
Coloradans To Watch in MLB Draft
With the MLB Draft approaching July 9-11, a large number of players with local ties could get picked. Here’s a look at local draft hopefuls coming out of Colorado high schools, Colorado colleges or out-of-state college players with in-state ties.
Walker Martin, Sr. SS, Eaton (Arkansas) — Colorado’s next great homegrown hope, Martin led the nation with 20 homers this year; a first-round talent who could be the state’s highest-picked position player ever.
Ethan O’Donnell, Jr. OF, Virginia (Regis Jesuit) — The fleet-footed and athletic O’Donnell won a Rawlings Division I Gold Glove Award and hit .354 with 13 homers, 18 steals and a .448 on-base percentage.
Jonah Cox, Jr. OF, Oral Roberts (Flatirons Academy) — After bootstrapping his way from Butler to Eastern Oklahoma State to ORU, Cox hit .412, was an All-American, Summit League player of the year and had a 47-game hit streak.
Jack Moss, Jr. INF, Texas A&M (Cherry Creek) — Moss broke out as a freshman at Arizona State before transferring to A&M, where he was the Aggies’ best hitter two seasons running; evolving power with high-contact approach.
Harry Gustin, Soph. LHP, Hawaii (Smoky Hill) — A projectable, fast-rising southpaw who made a name for himself at Hawaii, Gustin was 5-3 with a 3.14 ERA in 15 games (14 starts) with a team-leading 79 strikeouts.
Colby Shade, Jr. OF, Oregon (Fort Collins) — After bouncing back from offseason shoulder surgery, Shade batted .336 with six homers and a .422 on-base percentage while helping lead the Ducks to the Pac-12 title.
Brady Rose, Jr. LHP, Dallas Baptist (Standley Lake) — Pitched two seasons at McLennan College, leading them to the JuCo World Series title in his second year; 2.93 ERA in 23 games out of the bullpen this year for DBU.
Graham Osman, Jr. LHP, Long Beach State (Colorado Academy) — The southpaw walked on at Arizona State and played two years there; posted a 4.60 ERA in 15 starts this year for Long Beach State.
Grant McGill, Jr. C, Indiana State (Mountain Vista) — McGill batted .262 with two homers and 38 RBIs in 60 games this year, when the elite backstop with a strong arm won the Rawlings Division I Gold Glove Award.
Simon Baumgardt, Jr. UTL, Tulane (Lakewood) — A three-year starter for the Green Wave, Baumgardt’s defensive versatility gives him upside in the pros; batted .277 in 59 games, with 12 doubles and 13 homers.
Laif Palmer, RHP Golden (Oregon State) — The most projectable prep arm coming out of Colorado this year, Palmer dominated (9-0 and 1.86 ERA) while leading the Demons to the Class 4A title game.
Max Stanley, RHP Douglas County (BYU) — One of two draftable arms on DCHS this year, Stanley wasn’t invincible, going 1-3 with a 3.65 ERA in 10 games. But the talent, frame and upside are all still there.
Tate Smith, RHP Eaton (Oklahoma State) — Martin got most of the headlines for the Reds, but Smith also made a mockery of Class 3A competition: 9-0 with a 1.52 ERA, with 54 K’s and no extra-base hits.
Carson Jasa, RHP Faith Christian (Nebraska) — At 6-foot-7, teams are going to take a long look at the projectable Jasa, who has the frame and the tools despite posting a 6.65 ERA in 11 games this spring.
Hunter Gotschall, RHP Douglas County (Hawaii) — Gotschall saw his draft stock shoot up this spring as he dominated the Continental League and posted a 1.69 ERA in 10 outings, with 69 strikeouts.
Julian Boyd, Sr. OF, Colorado Mesa — The Los Angeles native earned Division II National Player of the Year honors after batting .436 with 24 doubles, six triples and 10 homers, plus a Mavericks-record 38 steals.
Kannon Handy, Jr. LHP, Colorado Mesa — After emerging over the past couple of seasons, including a no-hitter in 2022, the Utah native was 6-2 with a 5.57 ERA in 15 games (14 starts) this year.
Ross Smith, Soph. OF, Metro State (Legacy) — Smith started his college career at GateWay in Phoenix before transferring to Metro; he hit .395 in 56 games this year, flashing power with 17 homers and 77 RBIs.
Colin Stone, Sr. C, Metro State (Faith Christian) — The Roadrunners’ backstop began his college career at Garden City in Kansas; a good defender with a plus arm, he hit .317 this year with 14 homers.
Ethan Sloan, Jr. LHP, Regis (Cherokee Trail) — As Regis’ most projectable player this year, Sloan converted to a full-time reliever in ’23 and posted a 6.41 ERA in 25 appearances, with 62 K’s and two homers allowed.
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