Second chances in life are rare and former Rutgers basketball player Jaden Jones has thankfully received one. After surprisingly staying in the 2022 NBA Draft, foregoing multiple years of college eligibility, Jones went undrafted and unsigned.
He served as a cautionary tale in getting bad advice and making an unfortunate decision. However, news broke on Tuesday that Jones was getting a professional opportunity overseas almost a year and a half since leaving Rutgers.
Jones arrived at Rutgers midway through the 2020-2021 season, using a redshirt to get acclimated to the college game. He then played in 17 games during the 2021-2022 season. Jones averaged 3.6 points and 1.2 rebounds in 10.4 minutes per game. He then entered the NBA Draft following the end of that season and remained in it, ending his Rutgers career.
Despite spending such a short time with the program, Rutgers fans should root hard for the former 4-star recruit. After it seemed he would never get an opportunity to pursue his basketball dreams following his exit from Rutgers, Jones now has a good one. Ratiopharm Ulm are the defending champions in the Bundesliga League in Germany. Their senior roster includes former Purdue players Trevion Williams and Dakota Mathias, as well as LJ Figueroa from St. John’s. At 20 years old, Jones is still very much developing as a player and this opportunity should help him grow on and off the court. He will be part of their ProB team, below the senior level.
It doesn’t matter that his Rutgers career ended abruptly. What matters is Jones has a another chance to play the game he loves. This also means that hopefully his career won’t be defined by his NBA Draft decision. That’s something all Rutgers fans and college basketball fans should root for. Hopefully, Jones can make the most of it and extend his professional career for years to come.
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Biochemist01
August 15, 2023 at 5:24 pm
Jaden Jones was (is?) one of the more inexplicable stories in recent Rutgers men’s basketball history. I am glad that he has a new opportunity to pursue his professional career.
BataliBoli98
August 15, 2023 at 9:54 pm
It’s nice to see that he is still in pursuit of his dream but I don’t know if I would say that I am rooting for him. RU sacrificed a scholarship on Jaden and once he signed didn’t pursue other wing options that might have made a big impact on the program. He got a free year at RU and came across as a guy who had completely checked out by midseason. I think I remember him basically sulking on the end of the bench and barely making it over to the huddle during timeouts. Maybe I am misremembering, but I’m at somewhat confident that Jaden did not exactly fitting the culture.