Tag: DeVante’ Jones

Three Michigan basketball players sign pro deals

Best of luck to them! #GoBlue

Three former Michigan basketball players signed professional deals on Monday — just not in the NBA. Iggy Brazdeikis, Devante’ Jones, and Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman (MAAR) all signed deals overseas.

MAAR signed with Victoria Libertas Pesaro in Italy. He played for Michigan from 2014-2018 and then he went undrafted in the 2018 NBA draft but played in the G-League from 2018-2020. During his four seasons in Ann Arbor, he averaged nine points, three rebounds, and three assists.

Devante’ Jones signed his first professional contract in Paris with the Metropolitans 92. Jones played one year with Michigan, this past season, where he averaged 10 points, four rebounds, and four assists in 28 minutes-per-game. Jones started his career with Coastal Carolina before transferring to Michigan his senior season. The former Michigan floor general played with the Denver Nuggets in the NBA Summer League.

The third Wolverine that signed an overseas contract was Iggy Brazdeikis. He signed with a Lithuania powerhouse team, the Zalgiris Kaunas. Iggy played one season in Ann Arbor before entering his name into the 2019 NBA draft. He was drafted in the second round by the New York Knicks. He played with three different teams during his NBA stint: Knicks, 76ers, and the Orlando Magic.

Brazdeikis averaged five points and two rebounds during his 64 games played in the NBA. In his one year in Ann Arbor, he averaged 15 points and five rebounds-per-game.

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Michigan guard DeVante’ Jones to declare for 2022 NBA draft

Jones, who joined Michigan last year from Coastal Carolina as a grad transfer, averaged 10.3 points, 4.6 assists and 4.5 rebounds.

Michigan guard DeVante’ Jones announced that he will declare for the 2022 NBA draft after just one season with the Wolverines, forgoing his remaining collegiate eligibility.

Jones, who joined Michigan last year from Coastal Carolina as a grad transfer, averaged 10.3 points, 4.6 assists and 4.5 rebounds in 33 games. He was eligible to play one more season because of the extra year of eligibility granted by the NCAA due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The 6-foot-1 standout tested the NBA draft last year but elected to play under head coach Juwan Howard. He viewed it as an opportunity to continue to improve his game, based on the feedback received last year, while also helping the Wolverines achieve success.

Jones did not play in the NCAA Tournament due to a concussion.

Jones is not currently projected to be drafted but could have the opportunity to participate in the draft combine or NBA G League Elite Camp in May and improve his stock. He will also have the opportunity to once again take part in private workouts with teams.

The NBA draft will take place on June 23 in Brooklyn, New York.

This post originally appeared on Rookie Wire! Follow us on Facebook!

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Michigan basketball gets bad news the day before the NCAA Tournament

Michigan basketball just received a huge blow for its game against the Rams on Thursday.

For Michigan basketball point guard DeVante’ Jones, it’s long been fall down seven times, get up eight. However, the grad transfer won’t be getting off the mat this time.

The Wolverines are in Indianapolis, set to take on Colorado State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. But the maize and blue will be shorthanded, it appears. According to The Detroit News’ Bob Wojnowski, who is in the vicinity for the press conferences taking place the day before the game, Jones is in concussion protocol and will not be available to partake in Thursday’s game. Jones has often been seen during games throwing his body around, diving for loose balls and being very physical.

Considering Jones’ play of late, it’s definitely a big hit for the Wolverines, who are favorites in betting odds, but underdogs when it comes to tournament seeding.

With Jones out, Michigan will rely more heavily on freshman Frankie Collins as well as Eli Brooks, who can play the position, but is typically the maize and blue’s starting shooting guard.

The Wolverines will take on the Rams on Thursday at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Thursday at 12:15 p.m. EDT. The game will be broadcast on CBS.

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5 takeaways from Michigan basketball’s loss to UCF

This team has a long way to go.

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Michigan dropped its fifth game of the year on Thursday night to UCF, 85-71.

Like most of the year, the Wolverines came out pretty strong in the first half. DeVante’ Jones came out playing hard, he ended the first half with seven points and seven rebounds. The Wolverines found themselves up four points entering halftime,

The second half started out strong for the maize and blue. Michigan had themselves a solid 12 point lead at one time.

But things ended swiftly for Michigan.

UCF went on an 18-2 run in a matter of four minutes and some change, and it was largely due to the fact that the Wolverines couldn’t play as a team. Michigan had some badly timed turnovers, the defense got soft, and the team just couldn’t hit shots when Darin Green Jr. and Brandon Mahan could for the Knights.

Here are our five takeaways from the Michigan loss to UCF.

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5 takeaways from Michigan basketball’s loss to Minnesota

This was a really, really bad loss.

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Michigan appeared to be moving toward an upward trajectory after destroying both SDSU and Nebraska, but that only lasted two games after a second-half collapse.

The Wolverines lost to the Minnesota Gophers, 75-65. The maize and blue are now sitting at 6-4 (1-1) on the year — a far cry from where Michigan was projected to be at this season.

The Wolverines looked to control the game — and the dominant team — in the first half, but the second half told a totally different story. Things went spiraling out of control in the final 20 minutes, just like in the losses to North Carolina and Seton Hall. Credit to Minnesota, who couldn’t seem to miss any shots, but the Wolverines continued to struggle from deep — even after hitting their season-high against Nebraska, and they struggled to contest many shots on the defensive end.

Not much positive came out of this one, except that Moussa Diabate returned to the starting lineup and Hunter Dickinson continued to assert his dominance in the paint.

Here are five takeaways from the loss to Minnesota.

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DeVante’ Jones to withdraw from NBA draft and transfer to Michigan

Jones, who was named the Sun Belt Player of the Year, averaged 19.3 points, 7.2 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 2.8 steals per game last season.

DeVante’ Jones announced on Monday that he will be withdrawing his name from the NBA draft and will transfer to play next season at the University of Michigan.

Jones, who was named the 2020-21 Sun Belt Player of the Year at Coastal Carolina, averaged 19.3 points, 7.2 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 2.8 steals per game last season as a junior. He led the conference in steals while he was second in scoring and eighth in rebounding.

The 6-foot-1 guard announced on May 1 he would transfer to Michigan while also testing the NBA waters. He had been training daily in Dallas in preparation for the draft while keeping his future options for next season open.

During an interview with Rookie Wire in May, Jones said his decision to transfer was in large part because of the coaching staff and the family-oriented atmosphere they created in Ann Arbor.

“Michigan is a great place,” Jones said. “Juwan Howard is a great guy. Howard Eisley, coach Phil (Martelli) and coach Saddi (Washington), that coaching staff, in general, is really family orientated. They showed a lot of love to me. Also, the fan base in Ann Arbor showed a tremendous amount of love. The guys there now showed a lot of love during this process, too. That was basically why I committed to Michigan.”

This post originally appeared on Rookie Wire! Follow us on Facebook!

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