Kentucky freshman Terrence Jones has decided to return to Kentucky for his sophomore season and remove his name from the NBA Draft. Jones, a 6-foot-9 forward from Portland, Ore., was named Third Team All-America by Yahoo! and received Freshman All-America status by several media outlets. He was also named the Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Year by the league coaches and SEC Newcomer of the Year by the Associated Press. He averaged 15.7 points, while pulling down 8.8 rebounds per game, ranking seventh and first in the SEC respectively.
“Last year was an unbelievable experience, but we left a lot on the table,” Jones said. “I’ve decided to come back and help us get back to the Final Four and bring the Big Blue Nation a National Championship.”
Jones set the UK freshman single-game scoring record with 35 points against Auburn. He also posted 13 double-doubles, second most among UK freshmen all-time and his eight 20-point games was fourth most by a freshman in program history. “I’m very happy for Terrence and his family because he did the right thing for his future but he had to come to that conclusion,” UK head coach John Calipari said. “He told me he wanted to continue enjoying the college experience and I told him that was fine by me.”
