With The Portal Report releasing its mid-season rankings for college basketball’s top-40 transfers, we’ll take a more in depth look at some of the names on that list and what exactly their production has looked like with a new program and under a new head coach.
Since arriving from DePaul in early May, David Jones has picked up right where he left off averaging 14.6 PPG, 7.5 RPG, and 2.1 APG in his first 13 appearances with St. John’s to earn the 16th spot on TPR’s rankings.
As the Red Storm’s second leading scorer and rebounder, Jones has worked his way into a unique role within head coach Mike Anderson’s scheme with the 6-foot-6 forward proving a challenge for opponents on both the offensive and defensive ends.
Playing primarily as a scoring wing, Jones’ capabilities are best exemplified in St. John’s recent 64-51 win over New Hampshire in which the Dominican Republic native managed 20 points, 12 rebounds, four steals, and three blocks for his third double-double of the season.
Furthermore, while some have suggested that for a Big East program, the Red Strom put together a fairly weak non-conference schedule starting the season 9-1, Jones’ production has continued into conference play regardless of St. John’s struggles.
Most notably, he was the leading scorer for St. John’s with a 19 point, 10 rebound, double-double in last night’s tightly contested loss to No. 22 Xavier and secured 11 points, eight rebounds, one assists, one block, and a steal in an 86-67 trashing of DePaul to open Big East play.
Jones has the capability to fill out the stat sheet any given night for the Johnnies and while picked to finish just sixth in the conference’s preseason poll, between Joel Soriano, Andre Curbelo, Posh Alexander, and a standout transfer in Jones, St. John’s could be tournament bound for the first time since 2019 in spite of a weak non-conference slate.
