Rising junior point guard Teven Jones seemed very much noncommittal about his future at UVa. following the Cavs’ 61-59 loss to Michigan State in the Sweet 16 Friday night in Madison Square Garden.
His postgraduate high school coach, Ed Huckaby at Fishburne Military School in Waynesboro, had a lengthy talk with Jones Monday night by phone, and told Augusta Free Press that Jones isn’t going anywhere.
“He’s said all along that he’s where he wants to be,” said Huckaby, whose close ties to the UVa. program had him sending Jones to Charlottesville for the second semester of the 2011-2012 season when Tony Bennett’s team suffered some high-profile departures over that Christmas break that left his team’s numbers seriously depleted.
Jones, already an academic qualifier, was with the team for the spring semester as a redshirt, essentially playing the role of practice fodder for Bennett on a team that made the program’s first appearance in the NCAA Tournament in five years.
Jones then went on to serve as a spot starter in 2012-2013 season before seeing his minutes dwindle considerably in 2013-2014. After playing in 30 games, making nine starts, and averaging 18.6 minutes per game in 2012-2013, putting up 2.9 points and 1.1 assists per game, Jones averaged just 4.3 minutes per game in 29 appearances, none of them starts, as his minutes were cut by the return of Malcolm Brogdon, who missed 2012-2013 with a foot injury, and with the development of freshman point guard London Perrantes, a key component of Virginia’s ACC regular season and ACC Tournament champions this year.
With the development of another point guard recruited in the class of 2013, Devon Hall, and the addition of combo guard B.J. Stith, Jones could be hard-pressed to find more minutes on a loaded 2014-2015 UVa. roster.
“He told me that he went to Virginia knowing that he’d have to compete, and that hasn’t changed. He knows he has a chance to be part of something special the next two years, This year was no fluke. UVa. is for real, and Teven wants to be part of what Tony, Ritchie (McKay, Bennett’s top assistant) and the rest of the program is aiming to do,” Huckaby said.
Another complicating factor for Jones is that he has already taken a redshirt yaer at UVa. Were he to transfer, he’d basically lose one of his two remaining years of eligibility.
“Teven isn’t going anywhere. He’s going to work hard and do everything he can to earn some minutes in the rotation for Tony next year,” Huckaby said.
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