Michigan Wolverines Basketball: DeVante' Jones Is Officially Enrolled
Michigan transfer DeVante' Jones has had to wait longer than hoped, but he's finally a Wolverine. Jones has been on campus but was officially announced as part of the team Thursday.
Jones has been admitted to the university to pursue a master's degree in social work, U-M announced in a release, and will have immediate eligibility. Howard also announced Wolverine forward Jaron Faulds will join fellow senior Eli Brooks in taking advantage of the NCAA's allowed year of eligibility due to COVID-19.
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"First of all, I am very excited to get to Ann Arbor," Jones said. "It felt like it took forever, but being here just a few days was worth the wait. Now that everything is in order, I finally get to get back on the court, compete and get better with my new brothers."
Jones graduated with a degree in communications and will use a graduate year to transfer to Michigan. The 2021 Sun Belt Player of the Year and two-time All-Sun Best selection (first, 2021; second, 2020), started 78 of his 81 career games with Coastal Carolina, scoring 1,381 points (17.0 ppg), grabbing 460 rebounds (5.7 rpg) and dishing 341 assists (4.2 apg).
As a senior, Jones averaged 19.3 points -- second most in the Sun Belt -- and posted his second straight season with 500-plus points. Overall, he had 23 double-figure scoring games, including a career-best 35 against Alice Lloyd (Dec. 18, 2020) while twice grabbing a career-best 14 rebounds -- against Georgia State (Jan. 1, 2021) and at South Alabama (Feb. 5, 2021).
Jones had five, 10-plus rebound games to account for five of his 12 career double-doubles. He ranked fourth nationally and led the Sun Belt With 73 steals (2.8 spg). He averaged 17.4 points per game and dished 183 assists (5.7 apg), the sixth most in a single season at Coastal Carolina. He tallied a career-best 10 assists twice -- Greensboro (Dec. 4) and N.C. Central (Dec. 14) – two of his 20 games of five assists or more, and was named the Sun Belt Freshman of the Year in his first full playing season, averaging14.6 points with 4.1 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game.
In addition to NBA team workouts and interviews, he participated in the NBA G League's Elite Camp on June 19-21 in Chicago. He withdrew from the draft on Monday (July 5) after a nice showing in Chicago.
“I just know it’s going to be way different than what it’s been,” he told TheWolverine.com of U-M while in Chicago. “Every practice is going to be a hard practice trying to get each other better, pushing each other each and every day. You’ve got to bring energy.
“But knowing it’s Juwan Howard … he knows the pro system very well, so he’s going to try to help me with that. We’re going to bring the mentality that we want to win each and every day.”
He scored 15 points going head to head with former U-M guard Mike Smith in the first game at the Elite Camp.
“I thought he played really well,” Smith said of Jones. “He’s going to be a really good player for Michigan next year if he decides to come back. He controlled the game, played really good defense, made some tough shots at the end and made some free throws.
“He’s going to be a really good piece. Coach Howard [and his staff] always does a really good job recruiting. They got me there, too. He’s a great fit and is going to be a great Michigan guard, for sure.”
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