Kam Jones will return for senior season at Marquette, ending speculation about NBA draft

Kam Jones wanted to end any speculation about his future.

The high-scoring guard for the Marquette men's basketball team announced on social media Thursday that he will be returning for his senior season.

MU teammates Tyler Kolek and Oso Ighodaro announced earlier this week that they would be forgoing their fifth seasons of NCAA eligibility and entering the NBA draft.

Jones could have entered his name in the draft pool and still retained his eligibility. He started popping up on mock drafts from media outlets late in the season after averaging a team-high 17.2 points per game.

But Jones had a simple message in his social media post.

"Marquette Nation - I'm staying home. Sincerely, K1"

Kam Jones will likely be preseason All-American

Jones will likely be on preseason All-American lists and should be one of the favorites for Big East player of the year next season.

With Ighodaro and Kolek gone, Jones should be the centerpiece of MU's offense next season. There was a sneak preview of how that would look when Kolek missed six games, including the Big East tournament, with an oblique injury.

Jones had the best game of his MU career in the regular-season finale at Xavier, piling up 30 points while also showing his playmaking chops with nine assists.

Kam Jones could be No. 2 on Marquette's scoring list behind Markus Howard

Jones has scored 1,391 points over his three seasons at MU. He has a chance to challenge Jerel McNeal (1,985 points) for No. 2 on the school's all-time scoring list behind Markus Howard (2,761).

Interestingly, MU head coach Shaka Smart saw that potential when Jones was a freshman.

"He's going to score a lot of points in a Marquette uniform," Smart said in November 2021. "I ran into Jerel McNeal a couple weeks ago, I said 'Kam Jones might be coming for your number.' Jerel is second (on the MU scoring list) behind Markus (Howard). That's the type of confidence I have in him."

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Marquette guard Kam Jones will return for senior season at Marquette