St. Bonaventure lands star junior transfer Lajae Jones ahead of 2024-25 season: Report

Lajae Jones of Barton Community College signed a deal to transfer from the junior college to St. Bonaventure on Saturday. He is the fourth to sign after Chance Moore from Missouri State, Dasonte Bowen from Iowa and another junior college transfer, Jonah Hinton, from Panola College.

ESPN's college basketball insider Jeff Borzello broke the news on X (formerly Twitter).

"NEWS: Lajae Jones, one of the best junior college transfers in the country, has committed to St. Bonaventure, he told ESPN."

Jones was a part of the NJCAA championship-winning team in his lone season with the Barton Cougars. He was named the tournament's MVP.

Lajae Jones' player profile

The forward played four years on varsity for Fletcher High School in Jacksonville Beach, Florida. He averaged 20.7 points and 7.4 rebounds per game in his senior season.

Lajae Jones earned All-State and All-Conference twice and District Player of the Year once. He has 1,426 points, 594 rebounds, 197 assists, 176 steals and 165 blocks in his four-year high school career.

The 2022 graduate first signed for the Tarleton State Texans, where he only played 10 games. Jones became the first student from Fletcher High School to sign for a Division I men’s basketball program directly out of high school since 1997.

During his short stint as a Texan, he averaged 3.6 points and 1.4 rebounds in 6.1 minutes of action per game. In his collegiate debut against Kansas Christian on Nov. 10, Jones scored 13 points.

After the freshman season, Jones transferred to junior college. He started all 37 games at Barton and averaged 15.4 points & 9.2 rebounds while shooting 54.0% from the field and 42.2% from three. In the championship game against Triton College, Jones scored 14 points and 13 rebounds.

Lajae Jones was ranked No. 7 in the 2024 JUCO Top 100 players rankings. According to Borzello, the second-team NJCAA All-American chose to sign with the Bonnies after receiving offers from Memphis, Colorado State and USF among others.

St. Bonaventure has had to rebuild its roster from scratch after poor finishes to their regular season for the past few seasons. In the 2023-24 season, they finished sixth in the A-10 Conference standings.

Bonnies' last NCAA appearance was in 2021, and their last Sweet 16 game was in 1970 when they went as far as the Final Four. This was their only time, and they have always struggled with early exits.

What do you think are St. Bonaventure's chances after signing Lajae Jones and others? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.