St. Joe’s hoops standout Deuce Jones II is no longer a member of the team, Hawks say
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.
In a statement on social media, the St. Joseph’s men’s basketball team announced Tuesday that Deuce Jones II is no longer a member of the squad.
“St. Joseph’s thanks Deuce for his effort this season and wishes him success in the next chapter of his career,” the statement read.
A sophomore, Jones missed the last two games because of what was called an “illness” against Delaware State and then “personal” reasons against Coastal Carolina. The 6-foot-2 guard averaged a team-high 15.8 points, starting in eight of the 10 games he played in. St. Joe’s lost to Coastal Carolina, 68-62, on Monday without Jones and four other players.
This offseason, Jones transferred to St. Joe’s from Big 5 and Atlantic 10 rival La Salle. As an Explorer, Jones averaged 12.5 points and 4.2 rebounds, making 39.7% of his shots from the field. The Trenton native was 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 reposted the team’s statement in an Instagram story with two shrugging emojis. He has since deleted the story and replaced it with posts featuring his St. Joe’s teammates, including captions such as “THWND [The Hawk Will Never Die]” and “My bruddas 4L.”
It is unclear whether Jones was dismissed from the team or left the program on his own. Requests for comment were not answered by Jones or the Hawks.
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