K-State basketball signs UIC transfer C.J. Jones
The Kansas State Wildcats added another player out of the transfer portal this week, signing former UIC Flames guard C.J. Jones on Tuesday.
Jones originally announced his commitment on Monday before making it official one day later.
A rising junior, Jones spent two seasons at Illinois-Chicago where he averaged nine points, 3.6 assists and 2.7 rebounds per game. He took a major statistical step forward this past season, scoring 11.4 points per game along with 4.8 assists and 3.5 rebounds per game. He also shot 37.8% from three-point range for the year, 40 percentage points higher than his freshman campaign.
Jones was a three-star recruit coming out of high school according to the 247Sports composite rankings, and had reported offers from the DePaul Blue Demons and Missouri Tigers in addition to UIC. He has two years of eligibility remaining.
There’s also already a K-State connection for Jones, a native of East St. Louis, Illinois. He was a high school teammate of current Wildcat Macaleab Rich.
“We’re fired up to welcome C.J. and his family to K-State,” coach Jerome Tang said in a statement. “We had some familiarity with him having played with Buddy at East St. Louis High School for head coach Mark Chambers. But C.J. stands out on his own. He is a big versatile guard with great decision-making abilities who can shoot the ball at a very high, efficient rate.”
Neither 247Sports nor The Athletic list Jones among their top-ranked transfer portal players this year.
Jones is the second portal addition for K-State, joining fellow rising junior Dug McDaniel from Michigan. McDaniel announced his commitment to K-State earlier this month.
The Wildcats have also lost a pair of players to the portal, with Cam Carter committing to the LSU Tigers and Dorian Finister still uncommitted.
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