Jordan Jones Transfers to Florida
June 11th 2008
by Marilyn McManus, SECWB.com
On June 6th, University of Florida women’s basketball head coach Amanda Butler announced that Jordan Jones, the top three-point shooter in the Southeastern Conference last season, will transfer into the Gator program from South Carolina. The decision had already been made, and Gamecocks fans were discussing it, a couple of weeks prior to the official announcement by the Florida coach. The purported reason for the transfer was Jones’ belief that she “would not thrive” under the direction of new Gamecocks head coach Dawn Staley. This news came only days after Staley was hired and South Carolina fans were able to hear the reactions of some of the players on local newscasts. At that time, Jones appeared to be excited about the hire and had only good things to say about it. USC women’s basketball fans, while not terribly surprised by Jones’ decision, were understandably disappointed to lose a key player–especially to another Southeastern Conference team.
Jones was the Gamecocks’ leading scorer, last season, with 13.1 points per game. That average ranked her ninth in the SEC in scoring and she led the league in the number of 3-pointers per game. Her 39.3 shooting percentage ranked her 31st in the nation and 3rd in the SEC. While at South Carolina, she set a freshman record of 97 3-pointers made, tied a school record with 9 3-pointers made in a game and set a career high scoring record of 31 points.
Jones will sit out for a year, a NCAA transfer requirement, and then will have three years of eligibility remaining in her career.
I was not one of those who agreed with Jones that she would not benefit by playing under the leadership of Dawn Staley or that she somehow was not the right “type” of player for Staley. I think that any player who plays hard, start to finish, is a Staley-type player and will progress under her, if she is motivated to do so. Jones was one of those players who wanted to play 40 minutes a game, healthy or injured, and was willing–if not insistent–to take the crucial shots at the end of the game. Despite a few defensive holes in her game, she is an all-around player who happens to excel at long-distance shooting. After watching her suffer when she was forced to leave the game for even a short break, during her freshman season, I can’t even imagine her sitting on the end of the bench, in street clothes, for an entire basketball season. After 3 years of Staley’s coaching, though, I could easily imagine her suited up for USA basketball in 2012 or thereabouts. I am not convinced that th e results will be the same, playing for Amanda Butler and the University of Florida Gators.
The University of Florida returns 13 players (8 of whom are guards) to the 2008-2009 squad and has 3 highly regarded recruits (2 of whom are guards) joining the team for the coming season. With 16 players ready to go, something will have to give–particularly at the guard position. Butler faces a height drought (very similar to the Gamecocks for next season) with only 4 players who stand 6-0 or taller. Only one of those players has seen significant playing time, thus far in her career, so finding playing time for the young, inexperience post players will be a dire necessity.
The power trio of Brooks, Bowden and Dotson will graduate after the 2008-2009 season. Guards Thompson, Mossor and Thomas have already seen good amounts of playing time and will get more preparation to fill in the gaps for the 2009-2010 season, when all 3 will be seniors and when Jordan Jones becomes eligible to suit up. Three more experienced guards will also hope to stand between Jordan and the starting Gator lineup: senior transfer from Clemson Susan Yenser, junior Kerri Simpson and junior Jordan Parker. Even her sophomore classmates, Tailor Jones and Trumae Lucas, will have had opportunities to earn playing time before Jordan ever dons a Gator jersey. Even assuming that Simpson and Parker are expendable, having played very little time at this point in their careers, and Butler needing to free up scholarships for her incoming freshmen, the team will still be overloaded at the guard positions for the foreseeable future. Experience upperclassmen will not be happy at the prospect of losing a starting job; the competition will be formidable. I am at a loss to see how the Jones transfer translates to a better (or more positive) opportunity, at this point. But Gamecocks fans will certainly have an opportunity to judge for themselves, as both will be in the same playing division when the 2009-2010 season rolls around and will be playing a home-and-away series on an annual basis. So Jones will definitely be returning to the Colonial Center for 3 more games in her career, assuming she finishes it at the University of Florida. Undoubtedly, playing at the “next level” is one of Jones’ ambitions, a long shot for a player of her size, unless she is blessed with superior all-around skills–which still must be showcased sufficiently to get her noticed by the professional scouts. In my opinion, the transfer is a success only if she starts 90% of her games for the Gators, scores at least 1500 points and plays in at least 2 NCAA tournaments. But that’s only my opinion–and only time will tell.