St. John’s Basketball Signs David Jones

QUEENS, N.Y. – The St. John's men's basketball program officially signed junior forward David Jones on Monday. Jones, a two-year standout at DePaul, will join the Red Storm for the 2022-23 season and has three years of collegiate eligibility remaining.

A native of the Dominican Republic, Jones ranked second on the Blue Demons in scoring last season with 14.5 points per game. He trailed only Javon Freeman-Liberty, the BIG EAST's leading scorer, and ranked ninth overall in the league in scoring average.

"David is a dynamic player who has plenty of experience competing in the BIG EAST and on the international level," said St. John's Head Coach Mike Anderson. "We are thrilled to have this young man who has great charisma join the St. John's Basketball program. David will bring toughness and a relentless work ethic on both ends of the floor. He plays with an edge. He's terrific scorer and rebounder with tremendous athleticism and will be a perfect fit for our style of play."

In 28 appearances last season, 27 of which were starts, Jones finished in double figures 21 times with seven 20-point outings and one 30-point performance. Jones also led the Blue Demons and placed 10^th in the conference in rebounding, pulling down 7.4 boards per game. He also paced the Blue Demons in steals with 47 and ranked 12^th in the league with 1.0 blocks shots per game. This past season, St. John's ranked in the top 15 nationally in both steals and blocks per outing.

Jones, a three-time BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll pick, captured national headlines in early December following a 33-point, 14-rebound effort in the Blue Demons' road win at Louisville during which he shot 15-of-22 from the field. A month later, Jones tallied 24 points and eight boards in a home win against Seton Hall before posting 26 points in the following game against Xavier.

Jones recorded five double-doubles on the season, including a 22-point, 14-carom and 10-assist triple-double against Georgetown on Feb. 9 and a 24-point, 10-rebound effort against St. John's on Feb. 27. In an overtime loss to BIG EAST Regular Season Champion Providence on Feb. 12, Jones logged 19 points and 10 rebounds in 43 minutes of action.

Jones, a product of Teays Valley Christian School in West Virginia, enrolled at DePaul midway through the 2020-21 academic year. He suited up in nine games for the Blue Demons that season, averaging 5.1 points in just 14.3 minutes per game. He reached double figures once, scoring a season-high 10 points in his second collegiate appearance against Providence.

Born and raised in Santo Domingo, Jones boasts extensive experience on the international circuit. He averaged 11.8 points and 8.6 rebounds at the 2016 Centrobasket U15 Championship, an event in which his team finished second. At the 2017 FIBA U16 Americas Championship in Argentina, Jones averaged 19.0 points and 6.2 rebounds, including a 34-point, 10-rebound performance against Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico was led by Jones' future St. John's teammate Andre Curbelo, whose 21.8 point-per-game average led the tournament. That same year, Jones led the Dominican team to a Centrobasket U17 Championship, averaging 8.2 points and 7.4 boards per outing. In 2018, Jones teamed up with St. John's teammate Joel Soriano at the FIBA U18 Americas Championship in Canada, Jones averaged 10.0 points in six appearances, including 18 points against Puerto Rico and 12 against the United States.

St. John's University Athletics

Players Mentioned

Joel Soriano

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