St. Joe’s hoops standout Deuce Jones II is no longer a member of the team, university says
The guard missed the last two games before the announcement. The 6-foot-2 guard averaged a team-high 15.8 points in 10 games.
On Tuesday, St. Joseph’s men’s basketball announced Deuce Jones II is no longer a member of the team in a statement on social media.
“The St. Joseph’s men’s basketball program announced that sophomore Deuce Jones II is no longer a member of the team,” the statement read. “St. Joseph’s thanks Deuce for his effort this season and wishes him success in the next chapter of his career.”
Jones II missed the last two games due to what was labeled an “illness” against Delaware State and then “personal” against Coastal Carolina last night. The 6-foot-2 guard averaged a team-high 15.8 points per game, starting in eight of the 10 games he played in. St. Joe’s lost to Coastal Carolina, 68-62, while without Jones and four other players.
This offseason, Jones II transferred to St. Joe’s from Big 5 and Atlantic 10 rival, La Salle. As an Explorer, Jones II averaged 12.5 points, 4.2 rebounds, 39.7% from the field as a freshman. The Trenton native ended his run at La Salle as the Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year and was a seven-time Rookie of the Week.
The Hawks, who saw their former coach Billy Lange leave the program weeks before the start of the season, are off to a 7-5 start with one game remaining before Atlantic 10 play, under new head coach Steve Donahue.
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Jones II reposted the team’s statement that he was no longer with the team in an Instagram story with two shrugging emojis. He has since deleted the story and replaced it with posts of his St. Joe’s teammates, including captions such as “THWND [The Hawk Will Never Die]” and “My bruddas 4L.”
At this time, it is unclear whether Jones II was dismissed from the team or left the program on his own. Requests for comment from The Inquirer for both Jones and the university went unreturned at the time of this report.
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