When the 2024-25 Clemson basketball season ended abruptly in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, no fan could have foreseen what kind of attrition the team would experience.
The Tigers lost the obvious guys like Chase Hunter, Jaeden Zackery, Ian Schieffelin, and Viktor Lakhin, but also guys like Jake Heidbreder, Asa Thomas, Chauncey Wiggins, and, most surprisingly, Del Jones hit the portal. The team lost eight players and was left with just two guys who didn't redshirt this past season in Dillon Hunter and Christian Reeves.
Clemson fans were the most upset with the loss of Jones because they thought he'd be the future of the backcourt after coming in as a highly-touted four-star and playing well as a freshman.
There was a slim hope hanging around that Jones might end up back with Clemson, but the point guard closed the door on that this week when he picked his new home.
And it was a shocking choice.
According to Del Jones’ Instagram post, he has committed to Radford to play basketball pic.twitter.com/Q2m6DiVnHi
— Gavin James (@GJames_1212) April 8, 2025
After receiving interest from some major programs, Jones ended up committing to Radford this week. The Highlanders have just three NCAA Tournament appearances in program history and it feels like this spot just isn't good enough for a ga tournament team next year.
Jones averaged 3.8 points, 1.5 rebounds, and 1.0 assists in 11.8 minutes per game as a true freshman with the Tigers and he shot 40 percent from the floor and 31 percent from deep.
While he wasn't the most productive player to ever suit up for Brad Brownell, he had a ton of potential and watching him enter the portal only to choose Radford is a bit head-scratching, though it is closer to home.
Maybe this will be RJ Godfrey 2.0 next year and he'll come back to Clemson.