Marquette Men's Basketball: Jamail Jones Ready to Make a Name for Himself

Watch out for Jamail Jones.

The 6-foot-6 sophomore forward could be in line for major minutes in coach Buzz Williams’ 2011-2012 season after averaging a mere 6.1 minutes per game last season and looking lost whenever he stepped foot onto the court.

After Marquette’s season-opening 91-37 victory over Mount St. Mary’s Friday evening, the evolution of Jones continues.

He notched the first double-digit point effort of his college career (10 points) on 5-of-10 shooting and showed a new level of confidence. He looked like he should be a Division I player. He looked like he was a former consensus top-60 recruit. He had a swagger about him. Maybe it is just the flat-top haircut.

But for those of us fortunate enough to cover the team in the preseason, the double-digit outburst wasn’t totally unexpected.

Jones showed signs of being a new player during the scrimmages at Marquette Madness (Marquette’s pep rally for the start of its season) and during Haunted Hoops (an inter-squad scrimmage on Halloween), when he scored 10 points on 4-of-7 shooting, including 2-of-4 on 3-pointers. 

And this is a vital time for Jones to make a statement.

As it stands now, Marquette's starting lineup consists of junior Junior Cadougan (point guard), senior Darius Johnson-Odom (shooting guard), sophomore Vander Blue (small forward), senior Jae Crowder (power forward) and redshirt junior Chris Otule (center). A bit of a shocker.

Williams had announced on October 14 that Crowder, Otule and Johnson-Odom would be his starters. On November 9 he announced that Blue would start, which left one spot open.

It was presumed that redshirt sophomore Jamil Wilson would be Williams’ small forward on opening night and that Jones and freshman Juan Williams would battle for Wilson’s backup minutes. Instead, Blue started at small forward.

Anderson was suspended for three games shortly before Marquette’s opener on Friday, for accepting a box suite ticket to a Milwaukee Brewers game.

That means he’s in Williams’ dog house. Freshmen have a tough time breaking into Williams’ rotation as it is, so who knows where Anderson stands after this incident, which brings bad publicity to the program, but also gives Jones and Wilson a three-game head-start to make an impression.

And unlike Anderson, Jones and Wilson, both have bodies that are ready to handle the physical toll of Big East basketball.

Wilson showed extreme athleticism in the opener, but was tentative offensively, posting only two points. Jones showed an edge about him both on the offensive and defensive ends, although Wilson did outplay Jones defensively.

Jones showed that between Wilson and him, he is the superior offensive player at this point in the season.

If Jones shows more of what was on display during the preseason and through the opener, he’ll make himself a regular in Williams’ rotation.