It’s an indication of the ever-evolving instances in school basketball: gamers aren’t simply switching colleges on a yearly foundation, however they’re doing so inside the identical convention.
Final season, David Jones was a key participant for DePaul. Now, the high-scoring wing is a part of the enemy, filling a significant position for St. John’s.
“I used to be shocked. Clearly, he had an awesome season final 12 months,” DePaul senior middle Nick Ongenda mentioned on Massive East media day Tuesday at Madison Sq. Backyard. “Simply seeing him go away, it was actually a shock to all of us.”
The Blue Demons’ loss is the Crimson Storm’s achieve. Jones is a projected top-three participant for the Johnnies, being requested to at the least partly fill the void left by two-time All-Massive East first-team choice Julian Champagnie. By touchdown Jones, together with Illinois switch Andre Curbelo, St. John’s has the makings of an NCAA Event workforce for the primary time since Mike Anderson’s arrival in 2019. The Massive East coaches picked the Johnnies sixth out of 11 groups of their preseason ballot, a nod to the switch additions.
“He will be wonderful,” St. John’s middle Joel Soriano, Jones’ shut good friend and a major a part of his choice to come back to Queens, mentioned. “He’s an enormous key into what we need to do right here. His presence is certainly going to make a distinction.”
Entry the St. John's beat like by no means earlier than
Entry the St. John's beat like by no means earlier than
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Early on, the 6-foot-6 Jones has appeared comfy in his new residence. He carried out properly within the workforce’s exhibition tour to the Dominican Republic in August, averaging 15.3 factors, 4.0 rebounds and three.6 assists. Anderson raved about his work ethic, the graceful southpaw steadily placing in three exercises per day, his dedication harking back to Champagnie’s.
“He’s at all times within the fitness center. He’s within the fitness center earlier than observe, he’s within the fitness center after observe. He shoots loads,” Soriano mentioned. “Julian used to have a shirt, ‘Shoot till your arm falls off,’ and I really feel like he follows that mannequin.”
There'll naturally be comparisons to Champagnie, since Jones might be taking part in the identical place and has the same ability set as a wing able to scoring in and out. However Anderson has made some extent of telling Jones they don’t want him to duplicate Champagnie’s 19.2 scoring common of final 12 months. He doesn’t should be the man on offense for the Crimson Storm.
“I simply need him to come back in and be ‘Deivi,’ ” Anderson mentioned. “That’s vital. The strain’s not on him.”
With DePaul, picked to complete final by the Massive East coaches, Jones clearly would have been essentially the most proficient participant, after main scorer Javon Freeman-Liberty made the transfer to the skilled ranks. However Jones wasn’t fascinated by staying in Chicago. He preferred the concept of taking part in in Anderson’s uptempo system with two pass-first level guards, Curbelo and Posh Alexander, and becoming a member of Soriano.
Ongenda and DePaul coach Tony Stubblefield had been diplomatic relating to Jones’ transfer, by far the Massive East’s largest intra-conference switch for the reason that league allowed such participant motion. Each mentioned they wished one of the best for him. In a coincidental twist, the 2 groups will face each other when the league season kicks off, with DePaul visiting Queens on Dec. 7. Had Jones stayed put, each groups’ expectations could be totally different.
“Clearly, it’s a man we needed to put together for, and now we’re getting ready him to go up towards different opponents,” Anderson mentioned. “I’m glad he’s on our workforce.”
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