NCAA Basketball: Analyzing final 4 teams for Sun Belt POY transfer DeVante Jones

Memphis Tigers

The Tigers have gotten some good news from the transfer portal in the past couple of weeks, landing bot Chandler and Johnathan Lawson from Oregon, along with small forward Earl Timberlake from Miami. But if you include the team getting back former Tiger guard Tyler Harris from Iowa State, the scholarship situation already gets tricky before even the prospect of landing Jones.

There’s also the fact that the team will be bringing back both leading scoring guard Landers Nolley and Alex Lomax, who led the Tigers with 4.2 apg off the bench. With Boogie Ellis and DJ Jeffries gone, there’s certainly room for a starting spot and a role for Jones if he chooses Memphis. But he wouldn’t have a defined role on a roster with so much turnover so there’s a chance he gets lost in the shuffle. And if he can’t be a true facilitator for Memphis, he’ll end up taking a backseat to Nolley as the shooting guard option.

Michigan Wolverines

The Wolverines got great news with senior guard Eli Brooks electing to return for another season, giving the team an experienced backcourt player on the roster. But part of what made Michigan so successful last year was having a pair of capable ball-handlers in both Brooks and Mike Smith, a grad transfer from Columbia.

Compared to Memphis, the selling point for Jones here is simple. Will he be willing to replicate what Smith did past season; 9.0 ppg and 5.3 apg as a starter on a Final Four contender? He’ll likely be able to score a little more since wings Isaiah Livers and Franz Wagner are gone. But the frontcourt, led by Hunter Dickinson, will be getting the majority of the offensive production next season. Would Jones be willing to produce less to play for a winner?