Auburn basketball is off to a hot start by filling its need for guards.
The departure of [autotag]Zep Jasper[/autotag] and the potential of [autotag]Wendell Green Jr.[/autotag] heading to the NBA has left [autotag]Bruce Pearl[/autotag] looking for players to complement [autotag]Tre Donaldson[/autotag] in Auburn’s backcourt. So far, he has done so with freshman [autotag]Aden Holloway[/autotag] and transfer [autotag]Denver Jones[/autotag].
Jones signed with Auburn earlier this month after leading FIU in points by scoring 20.1 points per contest last season. Now that he has found a new home, Jones is now part of a respectable list.
College Basketball Review recently shared a top-20 list that highlighted college basketball’s best pickups from the transfer portal. Jones is No. 11 on the list.
Jones’ team was one vowel off from going to the Final Four, and now FIU loses its best player to the transfer portal.
After an impressive freshman season where Jones averaged 12.5 points per game with the Panthers, he decided to stay another year instead of leaving right away.
It clearly paid off, because Jones averaged 20.1 points per game as a sophomore, leading Conference USA in scoring. He’s as efficient as a player in the transfer portal, shooting 37.1% from three and 55.2% from two last season.
Jones joins an Auburn team with a diminished backcourt. Starting point guard Wendell Green Jr. is off to the NBA Draft – one of six departures that also includes former 4-star recruit, Chance Westry.
The New Market native averaged double figures in two seasons at FIU. Last season, he made 47% of his shots from the field and has an excellent career free-throw percentage of 86.8%.
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