Sunday, October 19, 2008

Big East Player Profile: Dominique Jones

Dominique Jones may not make your All-Big East preseason team and there’s probably a good chance that some fans couldn’t even tell you which team he plays for.

Jones, a rising sophomore guard at South Florida, was a unanimous selection for the conference’s All-Rookie team after his ’07-’08 season produced a 17.1 points per game average (good for seventh in the league).

The 6-foot-4, 205-pound Florida native was the only Bull to start all 31 games last season—a USF squad that battled with Rutgers to escape the Big East cellar until the first weekend in March (Jones beat the Scarlet Knights on March 1 at the RAC on a basket with 37 seconds left).

This dynamic scoring freshman garnered honorable mention All-Big East accolades after averaging 18.2 points per game in league games (third best total in the conference).

While his 4.6 rebounds per game were also impressive out of the guard position (in a notoriously tough conference underneath), his game-by-game scoring totals were eye-popping.

Jones put up double figures in 28 of 31 games, went for 20 or more points in 10 games and had three games over 30 points.

He was named Big East Rookie of the Week four times—once during a seven-day span when he scored 30 points in consecutive games.

Jones, whose 530 points on the year were a USF freshman record, is expected to once again lead Stan Heath’s backcourt as the former Arkansas coach continues his rebuilding process in Tampa.

NOTE: Jones hails from Lake Wales, Florida… the same hometown as Phoenix Suns frontcourt star Amare Stoudemire.

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