While Cal State Fullerton transfer Max Jones didn’t set off many alarms in the eyes of the national media upon committing to Kansas State in the transfer portal, his stock has risen significantly this offseason.
Jones was absent from the Wildcats’ exhibition win over Emporia State on Tuesday, seen on the bench with a boot, but according to Jerome Tang, he should be ready to go for Game One.
At his weekly press conference on Monday, Tang mentioned that the team is fully healthy ahead of the season opener.
Jones, a 6-foot-4 senior from Florida, committed to join Kansas State after spending the previous two seasons at Cal State Fullerton. The Florida native was second on his team in scoring, recording 15.3 points per game. He also added 3.0 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game on 38.3% shooting from the field.
After visiting Manhattan to watch practice this offseason, the Field of 68’s Jeff Goodman raved about Jones and his potential impact on Kansas State’s roster.
“The guy that impressed me the most that I just didn’t know anything about was Max Jones,” Goodman said in an interview with 3MAW. “I didn’t know anything about him. Very little. Two years at Tampa and two years at Cal State Fullerton. When I talked to their staff in the summer, they told me he came in a little overweight and didn’t look good, and they didn’t know if they had made a mistake there. He was awesome. Makes shots, plays hard, just one of those guys that I think it’s gonna be hard to take out of the lineup.”
Jones went to Tampa as an under-recruited prospect in the Class of 2020, and after four seasons of college basketball, he worked his way into a three-star prospect in the transfer portal. He was listed as the 365th-ranked player in the portal on the 247Sports index and the 82nd-ranked player at his position.
Kansas State tips off vs. New Orleans on Tuesday, November 5th, at 7:00 p.m. CT.
