Apr. 11—Illinois' pursuit of guard depth via the transfer portal zeroed in on a new target Thursday in Cal State Bakersfield's Jemel Jones. The Chicago native and Blue Island Eisenhower grad spent just one season with the Roadrunners after earning NJCAA Division II All-American honors at both Olive-Harvey and South Suburban the past two seasons.
Jones was fairly successful in the Big West Conference, too. The 6-foot-4 guard averaged 18.9 points, 3.6 rebounds and 2.1 assists this past season to earn All-Big West Second Team honors in addition to being named Newcomer of the Year in the conference. He shot 48 percent overall and 35 percent from three-point range.
Several records fell during Jones' lone season at CSUB. He set the program's single-game scoring record with 45 points in an early January win against Cal State Northridge and finished the his first season of Division I hoops with a program record 625 points. Jones failed to reach double digits in scoring just four times.
