April 14, 2016
Vanderbilt junior center Damian Jones, a three-time All-SEC selection, has informed the Vanderbilt Athletics Administration that he has opted to forego his final year of eligibility and enter the NBA Draft.
The 2016 NBA Draft will take place June 23, 2016, at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y.
Jones, who earned All-SEC First-Team honors his sophomore and junior years and an All-SEC Freshman team honor in 2013-14, and will leave Vanderbilt with a cumulative 1,313 points, which is 24th on VU’s all-time scoring list. He is second on the career blocks list with 167, and his 1.69 blocks per game career mark is the second-best in program history. His 54 blocks in 2015-16 is also fifth all-time on VU’s single-season block list and he finished third on the Commodores’ all-time list in field-goal percentage in a career at 56.6%.
“I want to thank the coaching staff, my teammates, professors, and the Vanderbilt community for their support and for helping me develop to the person that I am now in the past three years,” said Jones. “I have grown as a person and a player and have developed many connections with my peers at Vanderbilt. I will always think back and cherish these days as a key time in my life. I’m looking forward to pursuing my dream of playing in the NBA.”
“Damian has had three fantastic years at Vanderbilt,” said Vanderbilt head coach Bryce Drew. “We are really excited for Damian and seeing another player get drafted. We are looking forward to having Damian come back in the summer to finish his degree and work out with our current players.”
