George Mason coach Kim English has announced the signing of Australian forward Blake Jones, who will compete for the Patriots beginning in 2021-22.
The Brisbane native currently plays for the Brisbane Bullets in the Australian NBL.
“We are extremely excited to add Blake Jones to our Mason Basketball Family,” English said. “His experience of playing with professionals in the NBL this season is going to be incredibly valuable to him. He’s started games and had production versus some of the best athletes in the world. The NBL has a nice influx of NBA players and Blake had the chance to compete against them. His size, IQ, skill and ability to stretch the floor really excited us. His intangibles of toughness, competitiveness and work ethic mean he’s our kind of guy. We can’t wait for Mason Nation to get to meet Blake and watch him shine on the court.”
Jones’ teammates with the Bullets include eight former Division I student-athletes, including Victor Law (Northwestern), Lamar Patterson (Pitt) and Anthony Dmric (Boise State).
Jones is a graduate of NBA Global Academy, an elite basketball training center at Basketball Australia’s Centre of Excellence at the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra, Australia. The NBA Global Academy serves as the NBA’s hub for top male and female prospects from outside the U.S.
In July 2019, Jones, a 6-foot-10-inch forward, competed for The NBA Global Academy at the NBA Academy Games in Atlanta where his team finished as tournament champions. The event featured prospects from the NBA Academies in Australia, China, India, Mexico and Senegal, along with select teams of other top international prospects.
Jones put together a series of strong performances in that event, including an 18-point effort vs. NBA Academy India and a 17-point, 16-rebound, 6-assist effort against World Select Blue.
In December 2019, Blake competed alongside top prospects from the league’s academies in a series of exhibition games at the NBA G League Winter Showcase in Las Vegas. He also played for the NBA Academies select team in the 2019 Tarkanian Classic prior to the G League Showcase both years.
In January 2020, Blake was part of the NBA Academy Select team that won the prestigious 2020 Torneo Junior Ciutat de L’Hospitalet in Barcelona. The NBA Academy Select Team defeated FC Barcelona in the championship.
Competing for the Australian National Team, Jones averaged 15.6 points, 7.2 rebounds and 2.2 assists while leading his home country to the 2019 Oceania U-17 Championship. His efforts included a 26-point, 11-rebound performance vs. Guam during the group stage.
Jones also ranked second in the 2019 Australian Schools Championship while competing for Lake Ginninderra College secondary school. He poured in an impressive 31.2 points and 18.4 rebounds per game. That championship run included a 36-point, 16-rebound game vs. Trinity College and 38-point, 15-rebound showing against Box Hill Senior U-20.
Jones joins an incoming class for Coach English which includes guard/forward D’Shawn Schwartz (Colorado) and guards DeVon Cooper (Morehead State) and Davonte Gaines (Tennessee).
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AFP
