Player Spotlight: Monmouth G Deon Jones

Story posted November 26, 2013 in CommRadio, Sports by Michael Katz

Monmouth (1-3) will make its way to the Bryce Jordan Center on Tuesday, to take on Penn State as part of the the Barclays Center Classic. The Hawks feature a new weapon at their disposal, as junior Deon Jones is in his first year of eligibility with the program.

Jones, a guard from Wilmington, Delaware, helped his high school win two straight state titles in his junior and senior seasons. He won his senior year state championship with a buzzer-beating three pointer. He was named Delaware State Player of the Year and was a McDonald’s All- American nominee his senior year. He averaged 18 points and eight rebounds as a senior and guided his school to a 45-3, record in his two seasons.

Jones played his freshman season at Towson, where he started all 32 of the Tigers games. He received heavy playing time, averaging 31 minutes per game. Jones was third on the team in scoring with seven points per game, and he also pulled down 4.5 rebounds per game.

After transferring to Monmouth and sitting out the mandatory year, Jones has played in the Hawks’ first four games. He scored a then career high 22 points in Monmouth’s only win of the season at Hofstra. In subsequent games against Penn, Seton Hall and St. Johns, Jones has scored 17, 24 and 9 points, respectively.

At 6’6” and 210 pounds, Jones has great size for a guard, and may be a tough matchup for whoever may cover him for the Nittany Lions.

Michael Katz is a junior majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email mak5672@psu.edu.