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WEEKEND BRUNCH: Why David Jones’ surprising decision leaves Memphis severely shorthanded

The most surprising decision of this week’s NBA Draft Deadline is going to have a major impact on the program that possesses arguably college basketball’s most difficult non-conference schedule.

David Jones’ decision to remain in the 2024 NBA Draft and not return to Memphis despite not being projected as a first or second round pick immediately lowers the Tigers’ ceiling for the 2024-25 season.

It also leaves them severely undermanned for what lies ahead in November and December.

Just like he did a year ago, Penny Hardaway put together a vicious non-conference slate for Memphis, giving his program ample opportunities to earn Quad 1 and 2 victories that are unavailable in the American Athletic Conference.

The Tigers will open next season on Nov. 4th at FedExForum against Missouri and then travel to UNLV five days later. A game against San Francisco at the Chase Center on Nov. 21st precedes three games in the Maui Invitational during Thanksgiving Week. Five of the teams in the Maui Invitational — Iowa State, UConn, North Carolina, Auburn, and Michigan State — are ranked in the Top 27 of the ROTHSTEIN 45 while the Tigers currently check in at 44.

Following the trip to Hawaii, Memphis will travel to both Clemson and Virginia in December before returning home to host both Mississippi State and Ole Miss.

That means that seven of the Tigers’ first eight marquee non-conference games will be away from FedExForum, which is far from ideal even with a player like Jones (21.8 points, 7.6 rebounds) — who would have a Preseason All-American next season — in the lineup. Without him, it’s essentially pushing a boulder up a hill despite a solid nucleus of Tyrese Hunter (Texas), PJ Haggerty (Tulsa), Colby Rogers (Wichita State), Baraka Okojie (George Mason), Tyreek Smith (SMU), Moussa Cisse (Ole Miss) and Dain Dainja (Illinois).

10 of the 13 games that Memphis plays before league play will be against quality opponents, which further reiterates this program’s need to find a replacement for Jones at the forward spot. His shiftiness and ability to cause mismatches on offense is irreplaceable, but that doesn’t mean that the Tigers aren’t going to be able to find a quality replacement over the next few weeks in the transfer portal.

And if they don’t?

They’ll have to deal with as hard of a November and December as any team will have next season in college basketball.

On The Side

  • Alabama is now the No. 1 team in the ROTHSTEIN 45 following Mark Sears’ decision to return to school. The 6-1 Sears averaged 21.5 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 4.0 assists and led the Crimson Tide to the Final Four for the first time in program history.
  • USC’s Eric Musselman will be next week’s guest on the College Hoops Today Podcast.
  • College Hoops Today reported on Thursday that Arkansas/Michigan and Miami/Tennessee will headline the 2024 Jimmy V Classic at MSG.
  • The NCAA denied Oregon’s N’Faly Dante an additional year of eligibility, a source told College Hoops Today this week. The Ducks will appeal the decision. The 6-11 Dante only played six games during the 2020-21 season due to a knee injury and only played 12 games during the 2019-20 season prior to the cancellation of the 2020 NCAA Tournament. He averaged 17 points and 9.2 rebounds last season as Oregon reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
  • The Division I MBB Oversight Committee has recommended that the notification of transfer window be reduced from 45 days to 30 days, according to a release. The 30-day notification of transfer window would then begin the day after the end of the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

Leftovers