Kansas State's basketball recruiting back on track with another 3-point shooting threat
Kansas State basketball's recruiting drought is over.
After a disappointing couple of weeks that saw two top prospects slip away along with starters Dai Dai Ames and Arthur Kaluma, Jerome Tang added another sharpshooting guard on Thursday in Cal State Fullerton's Max Jones.
Jones, a 6-foot-4, 210-pound senior from Clearwater, Florida, spent the past two seasons at Fullerton and averaged 15.3 points, 3.0 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.7 steals for the Titans in 2023-24. He shot 38.3% overall, but 38.5% from 3-point range, giving the Wildcats yet another perimeter weapon.
Jones appeared in 24 games with 21 starts, but his last game was Feb. 15 after he suffered a foot injury. His biggest game came last Nov. 26 against Nebraska, when he scored 30 points with five 3-pointers, three rebounds and three assists.
Jones is the fifth player to join K-State via the portal, but it still leaves the Wildcats with four scholarships to fill. All but 6-11 freshman forward Baye Fall from Arkansas are guards or wings, and all made 37% or more of their 3-point attempts, addressing a major weakness of last year's team.
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Jones was not heavily recruited out of Clearwater High School, but averaged 22.1 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2.7 assists in two years at the University of Tampa before transferring to Fullerton. He has one year of eligibility remaining.
Jones joins a group of backcourt transfers that already includes former Michigan point guard Dug McDaniel, Chicago Illinois' CJ Jones and Villanova's Brendan Hausen. McDaniel averaged 16.3 points and 4.7 assists as a sophomore at Michigan, CJ Jones 11.4 points and 4.5 assists in his sophomore year at UIC and Hausen 6.2 points on 39% 3-point shooting, also as a sophomore.
The Wildcats are still in the market for experienced big men, with returning 6-9 super-senior David N'Guessan the only veteran on the roster after starting 21 games and averaging 7.8 points and 6.8 rebounds last year.
The only other returning players from a 2023-24 K-State team that went 19-15 are seldom-used freshmen forwards Taj Manning and Macaleab Rich. Fall, a 2023 McDonald's All-American at Accelerated School in Denver, appeared in just nine games as an Arkansas freshman.
Arne Green is based in Salina and covers Kansas State University sports for the Gannett network. He can be reached at agreen@gannett.com or on Twitter at @arnegreen.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas State basketball adds Cal State Fullerton guard from the portal
