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Purdue adds transfer commitment out of Southern Illinois

Ethan Stone

By Ethan Stone

Published:

Purdue dipped into the transfer portal Saturday and earned a commitment from former Southern Illinois guard Lance Jones. The 6-1 shooting guard started all 4 seasons for the Salukis and is one of the top defending guards in the portal.

As far as scoring is concerned, Jones is good but his efficacy as a true scoring option at the B1G level is still TBD. He shot 43% from range his sophomore season, but fell to 26% this past year. He also shot 50% from within the 3-point line and averaged just under 14 points per game last season with the Salukis, a defense-first mid-major program.

He made his decision Saturday via Twitter:

Purdue’s major problem towards the end of last season was its guard play. Fans across the country agreed Purdue’s major weakness was an inability to draw attention away from Zach Edey. The 7-4 big man would always get his, but it seemed at times he needed extra help from his guards that he simply did not receive. Now, with Edey off to the draft, that problem will be amplified.

But this is a step in the right direction. Jones has shown he can be a weapon offensively, but it’s on the Boilers’ coaching staff to bring that back to the surface. Defensively, Jones should be good to go against B1G caliber talent from the get-go.

Ethan Stone

Ethan Stone was an editor for his student newspaper at the University of Tennessee and is now a News Manager for Saturday Tradition.