Kam Jones staying put at Marquette Basketball for 2024-25 season
The NCAA basketball offseason is in reality a myth because there's no such thing as an "offseason" anymore. In order to stay competitive, programs need to plug holes left when players leave via the transfer portal or when they declare themselves eligible for the upcoming NBA draft. The Marquette men's basketball program needs some stability right now in order to remain competitive in the Big East and make another deep run in the NCAA tournament next season.
By Mike Gambill
The term "offseason" really has little meaning for the Marquette men's basketball program as head coach Shaka Smart needs to take a hard look at keeping the Golden Eagles competitive next season in the Big East Conference. Between the NCAA transfer portal that seems to whisk away players the moment the nets are cut down at the NCAA finals to the upcoming NBA draft, college basketball programs struggle more than ever simply to keep players on the roster.
Head coaches have become masterful sales managers and comb through the nation looking to ply their trade by finding the newest recruits to fill gaps on the court. Whether those gaps are filled with players jumping into the transfer portal looking for greener pastures or the newest crop of high school players has more complexity than ever for basketball coaching staffs simply to find student-athletes to put out on the court come next fall.
The Marquette Golden Eagles are not immune to the trials and tribulations of losing top-notch caliber players as both Oso Ighodoro and Tyler Kolek have declared themselves eligible for the upcoming NBA draft and forgoing a fifth year of NCAA playing time. With these player losses, head coach Shaka Smart did receive a bit of a reprieve this week when high-scoring guard Kam Jones announced that he was staying put on campus for the upcoming season and immediately moved himself up to the top of the program depth chart.
Marquette made the Sweet Sixteen round in the recent NCAA tournament and Kam Jones played a big role in the team's success throughout the regular season and in the postseason as well, Jones posted a team-leading average o 17.2 points per game and also averaged 2.4 assists, 2.9 rebounds and 1.1 steals each game on top of his scoring. Even more importantly in the modern game, Jones also averaged a strong 40.6% scoring average on dropping three-pointers throughout the season. While Jones was a Big East honorable mention this year, his improving stock will likely elevate him to a preseason All-Big East and possibly All-American nod.
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As players leave for new opportunities, the retention of Kam Jones at Marquette will pay immediate dividends for the Golden Eagles and Jones will look to take on more of a team leadership role this upcoming season.