With 14 teams hoping for the ping-pong balls to bounce their way at tonight’s NBA Draft Lottery, everyone’s vying for a chance to draft Arizona’s Derrick Williams. Following the departure of this year’s Pac-10 Player of the Year and the Wildcats’ leading scorer, the weight was going to presumably transfer over to the shoulders of rising junior point guard Lamont “MoMo” Jones. Instead, Jones announced Monday that he will transfer to another school.
“I would like to thank my coaches, my teammates and all of the U of A fans for making my two years at Arizona very special,” said Jones in a statement released by the school. “After much thought, I have decided to pursue my goals at a school closer to home. My desire to be closer to my family, and in particular my grandmother, is the reason I am transferring. I want it to be known that I love this program, my coaches and teammates. I appreciate everyone for supporting me through this tough time.”
Helping to lead the Wildcats to a Pac-10 regular-season championship and the Elite Eight, Jones started all 38 games this season and averaged 9.7 points and 2.4 assists per contest. While he has not yet made a decision on which school he will attend, you can expect the Harlem native to look at Big East programs such as St. John’s or Rutgers or even UConn and Villanova.
“This spring MoMo expressed to me his desire to be closer to home while continuing his life as a student-athlete,” said UA head coach Sean Miller. “After considering this for several weeks this spring, he’s decided to leave our program. He did a great job in his two years here and helped us win a Pac-10 championship this past season. We wish him great success in the future.”
For all you Wildcats fans out there, don’t fret – you’ll still have one of the deepest backcourts in the country. Arizona returns Kyle Fogg (now the team’s leading scorer) and Brendon Lavender for their senior seasons along with rising sophomore point guard Jordin Mayes, and add incoming freshmen guards Josiah Turner and Nick Johnson who are both NBA prospects.
Where do you think MoMo will land? How do you think Arizona will do next season?
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