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Despite being a projected second-round pick, Mason Jones was not selected in the 2020 NBA Draft.
The guard from DeSoto, Texas, did not join teammate Isaiah Joe - who was taken 49th overall by the Philadelphia 76ers - as one of the 60 players who heard their name called Wednesday night.
Instead, he’ll sign a two-way deal with Houston as an undrafted free agent, according to ESPN’s Jonathan Givony. That will allow him to split time between the Rockets and Houston’s G-League team - the Rio Grande Valley Vipers - in 2020-21, with no more than 45 days spent in the NBA.
Taking the road less traveled is nothing new to Jones, though, as he’s done it several times during his remarkable journey to this point of his career.
Failing to make the DeSoto High basketball team because he was overweight, he transferred to Triple A Academy for his senior season. From there, Jones spent a year at a prep school before going the junior college route at Connors State in Oklahoma.
He caught the eye of former Arkansas head coach Mike Anderson and was a late addition to the Razorbacks’ 2018 signing class. Even though he wasn’t rating on Rivals, Jones had a fantastic two-year run in Fayetteville before deciding to skip his senior year and enter the NBA Draft.
After averaging 13.6 points his first season, he put together a sensational junior year under new head coach Eric Musselman. He was named the SEC Co-Player of the Year and earned honorable mention All-America honors from the AP.
Jones led the SEC and ranked eighth nationally in scoring at 22.0 points per game, plus averaged 5.5 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.7 steals. He was the only SEC player to lead his team in each of those categories and was the first UA player to do so since Sidney Moncrief in 1978-79.
Had the Razorbacks been able to continue playing in the postseason, Jones might have made a run at Day’s single-season scoring record of 786 points set in 1990-91. Instead, he finishes with 683, which ranks seventh. In terms of scoring average, Jones’ 22.0 points rank sixth on the UA single-season list. They were the most since Day averaged 22.7 in 1991-92.
With a free throw early in a win over Tennessee, Jones became the 44th member of Arkansas’ 1,000-point club - but just the eighth to do so in his first two years with the program. It was his 61st career game, making him the fifth-fastest player to reach the mark, according to HogStats.com.
What made Jones particularly dangerous was that he is a capable scorer in many different ways. He shot 35.1 percent (68 of 194) from three-point range, giving him 204 points, and was an efficient 53.9 percent inside the arc, giving him 246 points.
A good chunk of those came on drives to the basket, which also got him to the free throw line a lot - where he shot 82.6 percent. Jones broke Moncrief’s 41-year-old single-season record with 233 free throws. The only other player to score at least 200 points each on two-pointers, three-pointers and free throws last season was Marquette All-American Markus Howard.
With 1,146 career points, Jones finished 28th on Arkansas’ all-time scoring list. However, his career 17.6-point average ranks sixth in school history.
