Your George Mason Patriots have brought in rising redshirt senior forward Elijah Jones out of UTEP.
Jones went to Maryland’s Mount Zion, the same school that Emmanuel Kanga and Pendergrass spent time at, and played for Team Takeover, where Tony Skinn and Lamar Butler were formerly assistants.
There is no overlap with Skinn, but there is a chance of overlap with Butler, although I cannot confirm.
Elijah Jones By The Numbers
Elijah is a 6’8 220 forward that played both big spots during his time at UTEP. 220 is generally pretty light for a center, but Nick Ellington was listed at 215, and Kanga at 220 during his freshman year. Amari Kelly was 225, so he is within a reasonable range to do it if needed.
During Jones’ redshirt junior season at UTEP, he averaged 13.1 points, 5.4 rebounds, 1.1 blocks, 0.6 steals, and 0.5 assists on 56.9% true shooting.
Offense
The first thing you notice about Elijah Jones is his 40% shooting from three. That is very impressive for a 6’8 forward playing center. And it is not on low volume, with 120 attempts on the season, and 9 attempts per 100 possessions, above average. For volume, that is in the Woody Newton, Zach Anderson, and Kory Mincy stratosphere.
The next thing you notice is his efficiency at the rim. Elijah made 79.7% of his shots at the rim, including 19/19 on dunks, and 44/60 (73.3%) on layups.
Only 3 players in the country made 75% of rim shots (50+ attempts) and 38% from three (8 attempts per 100 possessions). Pretty much, the rim and three efficiency that Jones brings is extremely rare.
The clear weakness in Jones’ offensive game is his midrange, as he only makes 29.9% of non-rim twos, which is very low, and the 6’8 big took more long twos than shots at the rim. Now, I assume the midrange threat gets him some looks at the rim or three, but I feel like you can optimize that volume slider a bit.
Something that doesn’t make too much sense to me is Jones’ free throw rate. He drew 2.4 fouls per 40, and had a free throw rate down at 16.6. That would normally be pretty worrying for a big man, but making 79.7% of your shots at the rim, with only 44.4% being assisted on is pretty convincing for his advantage creation. For context, Allenspach had 61.8% of his rim twos assisted.
Either the person who scorekept for UTEP’s games was very strict on assists, or this guy is great at creating for himself near the rim.
There can be confounding factors here, but the on/off eFG% look pretty good for Elijah. With him on the court, UTEP has a respectable 52% eFG. With him off, it is 39.5%. This is a wild swing. They shot 38.6% from three with him on, and 21.7% with him off, per CBBShotCharts. This is just insane.
Defense
The defense is mixed here. 4.1% block and 1.4% steal rate, which is pretty good. 3.4 fouls per 40, also good.
Defensive box plus-minus of -.6. Not good. Torvik has their own defensive rating system, D-PRPG, which is WAR for basketball, and has him at 2.6. Most guys have their DBPM and D-PRPG pretty in line, but not Jones.
With Elijah Jones on the court, teams shot an eFG% of 51.1%. With him off, that went up to 52.2%. That is good. It would be helpful to find out what their rebounding percentage was, along with turnover rate, but that is not readily available.
Elijah Jones Scouting Report (1/8 Middle Tennessee State)
Offense
The biggest thing with Jones is his spacing. You have to guard him close on the perimeter. One of the opponent’s bigs will have to be out of the paint, which opens up everything for others. He is very dangerous as a trailer from three. Teams will be punished if they forget about him.
When Elijah drives, he can kick it out to a teammate in the dunker spot. I don’t see the 5% assist rate. The passing flashes are crazy.
The driving was a mixed bag. When it went right, it went right. He either had an open shot at the rim or passed it to the dunker spot. The problem was that the 6’8 big would pick the ball up early on his drives, which would force him to either take a midrange or pass. When he picked the ball up one dribble later, it was special. The strides are so long that Jones just get past everyone.
The off-ball movement was pretty good. He knows when to get into the dunker spot for a driver when sitting in the post. His timing is awesome, but his teammates chose to shoot over the double instead of getting it to him. I saw a single cut attempt from the perimeter that forced a foul. Do that more.
The 6’8 big would use his speed in the open court to be a rim-runner in transition.
Defense
I saw one post rep and he pulled the chair out from his man and forced a travel. The on-ball perimeter defense was fine. Jones could stay in front of a guard and make him pass, but on the next possession, he can let up a drive from the opposing big. The size is a bit of a problem if matched onto a driving big, as the 220 pound big can get bumped. Mason is going to need more consistency there.
The ball-screen defense is also pretty mixed, as him blitzing is really fun, as is the drop coverage, but other coverages were a bit tough.
The rebounding was fine. He boxes guys out well but doesn’t make super plus plays there. Very fundamental.
The help defense, both inside and outside, was a good showcase of his athleticism. On the perimeter, he would fly around to help the helper and run guys off the three-point line.
With the rim protection, Jones had some flashes of crazy rim protection rotation. He will wow you with some plays when decisive. The problem was that Elijah was a tick slow on helping sometimes, and can get sealed out of position pretty easily. When the big man did get in position, he could overcommit to stopping a pass when he was going to get a good contest on the shot anyway.
Pretty much, if Elijah meets someone at the rim, it is going to be awesome. The challenge will be to make him consistently do that. I trust it will happen.
For possibly the last time this portal season, Joe time.
Elijah Jones Scouting Report (North Dakota State)
Thanks Palmer.
It has been fun doing these with you all this offseason ladies and gentlemen. So let’s talk about the newest Patriot, Elijah Jones.
I watched the first half of UTEP’s battle against North Dakota State from this past season to get a feel for Jones as a player.
The question for Jones here early on is where exactly the Patriots will play him. KenPom has him listed as UTEP’s center, while Torvik’s player designation lists him as a stretch four. Both are good options for what Mason wants to do, but I lean towards Tony and co. wanting to play Jones at the four spot in the system. He’d seem to fit better there from this tape.
Jones has a great offensive bag off the jump. His three-point form is solid, he can get to the hoop via drives, his post up game is acceptable. His only flaw is that he takes way too many low probability midrange shots that don’t go down. He was an 80% shooter at the rim and a 40% three point shooter, but only 30% from midrange. Fatt Hill had that same issue and the coaching staff did a pretty solid job of fixing that, so I have confidence they’ll be able to do the same with Jones.
He doesn’t get fouled a lot for a guy who shot over 170 two pointers last year, but he’s decent from the line, hitting his free throws at a 70% clip. That maybe suggests the 40% three point shooting could come down a tad this season, but that also means it isn’t completely fake. He moves behind the arc well and would be a positional weapon if/when he plays at the five offensively. Not sure how many A-10 bigs would be comfortable covering him out there.
The main reason I do think Jones ends up playing mostly at the four is his defensive play inside the paint. His defense on the perimeter is good, and I’d argue slightly above average for his size, but the interior defense was rough. It wasn’t awful, but it wasn’t good enough even with the questions I have about UTEPs system. Lots of doubling against North Dakota State for what seemed like no good reason, which left a lot of guys open. But he will need to improve there greatly if Mason wants him to play the majority of minutes at center for the Patriots.
The key with Jones is his offensive bag though. This is a high level offensive player that Mason has snagged here, one of their best they’ve snagged under Tony Skinn. He will elevate Mason’s offensive floor and if the staff can get him to play more consistently in the paint on both sides, Jones is genuinely an All A-10 player next year. Can’t wait to see what he does in the green and gold.
Back to you Palmer.
Ratings
Driving: 50 – This has potential to be higher. The speed with ball is really fast, but inconsistent. If he drove more often instead of picking the ball up and being forced to take a midrange, this would be a 55 or 60.
Handle: 55 – This would be a 50, but the inconsistency is with the speed. He doesn’t get out of control, just sometimes a little slow. 9.8% turnover rate from a big who puts the ball on the floor.
Finishing: 65 – 79.7% finishing at the rim with only 44.4% assisted is great. Still a bit confused by the low free throw rate.
Shooting: 65 – 40% on 120 attempts, 9 attempts per 100, especially for a 6’8 forward. It would be sick if he could repeat this. Zach Anderson with a well-rounded offensive game would be amazing.
Passing: 45 – This would be a 40 or 35 without the passing flashes I saw. There is room here to be a 50. Not a ballstopper by any means.
Screening: 45 – There were a lot of headscratchers here. Guys would get around him pretty easy, and sometimes he would sit there setting a screen for nobody to come near him, not even a decoy. Seemed like his teammates and him were not on the same page. I do appreciate the creativity. 1 in 10 times it turned into an improvised play that got a dude wide open. Got bumped from a 40 to 45 when I realized I did not see a moving screen.
Off-ball Movement: 55 – Those subtle movements into the dunker spot, along with just overall drifting into space for open threes was impressive. I can’t really give him any higher than a 55 since he doesn’t consistently use his perimeter shooting threat to get backdoor cuts.
Rebounding: 55 – This is scaled for being a four, not a five. He would be 45 at center. Pretty equal on both ends.
Perimeter Defense: 45 – Mixed bag here, I think there is potential for this to be a lot higher due to his movement speed at his size. Showed flashes of staying in front of guards but would get sag too far off a shooting big.
Rim Protection: 50 – I see a lot of room for improvement here. When he is in position, the rim defense is good. The problem is that Jones can get there late, or can be manipulated out. Block rate of 4.1% with a good foul rate gets him that 50. I could see a 60.
Post Defense: 50+ – I saw a single post rep. It was good. That is too small of a sample size to really make any judgement. 50+ it is.
Pick-And-Roll: 50 – Mostly good but still has some lapses.
Horizontal Athleticism: 60 – The movement ability is pretty impressive for a guy like this. It isn’t Haynes, but it isn’t too far. The first step will get him past most bigs.
Vertical Athleticism: 60 – I thought this was 55 but he just gets up so fast. It isn’t super high, but the time it takes from the start of his jump to get to the max is very low.
How Does He Fit In For Mason?
If the positioning improves on defense, I could see a Jalen Haynes type impact on that end. Good rim protector who can come out to the perimeter and make ball-handlers work.
I think 2024-25 VCU’s Jack Clark is a decent comparison for Jones. Solid forward who’s solid all-around on offense and can defend.
I guess we talk about how the 4 and 5 spots could work out.
The forward room is pretty crowded. Emmett Adair, Elijah Jones, Michael Marcus, Shane Pendergrass, and Ryan Preston-Mendy are all fighting for minutes.
I think Adair and Jones are both a tier above the others, being pretty projectable to be good starters at the A10 level.
Marcus is looking to be a good combo big bench piece. Michael has more of a four skillset, but a very mobile center frame.
Pendergrass is a freshman who I still think could play minutes and it would not be a problem, but with at least three guys ahead of him, maybe his role could be a massive three. This is assuming he is not a freshman phenom.
Similar with Ryan Preston-Mendy, although I am less sure about him being able to get consistent minutes and produce, as he was pretty raw coming out of France. I want to believe in his development, but we haven’t seen anything due to him rightfully redshirting. Wildcard!
Last season, the four position was a problem. Dola Adebayo, Stas Sivka, Malik Presley, and Nick Ellington all spent a decent amount of time there, and it always felt like something was missing. I cannot imagine there will be a problem at that position this season.
As of now, it is hard to project a slam dunk backup center for Mason, but between Jones, Marcus (it’s Marcus), and maybe Adair, one of them should be able to do it.
