SAN DIEGO – Jared Coleman-Jones, a 6-10 forward, is the newest member of the San Diego State men's basketball program having signed a Grant-in-Aid for the 2024-25 school year. Head men's basketball coach Brian Dutcher made the announcement on Thursday. When he dons the Scarlet and Black, Coleman-Jones will have one season of eligibility.
"Jared is in the tradition of the versatile big that Aztec fans are used to seeing," Dutcher said. "He's a 44.0 percent 3-point shooter who can attack the basket off the bounce and has a solid back to the basket game. Plus, he provides a rebounding presence that we needed in this year's recruiting class."
In four years of college basketball, first in 2019-20 at Northwestern and the last three at Middle Tennessee State, Coleman-Jones has averaged 5.6 points, 3.9 rebounds in 16.1 minutes per game, but last season he blossomed raising those numbers to 11.0 points, 7.6 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game in an average of 28.1 minutes.
The Jacksonville, Fla., native, was honored as a third-team All-Conference USA performer last season, after starting in each of the team's 33 contests. He shot 45.2 percent (127-of-281) from the field, 44.2 percent (19-of-43) from distance, and a career-high 77.1 percent (91-of-118) from the line. His 7.6 boards per game and 77.1 percent free throw shooting ranked second and fourth, respectively, in Conference USA and his 1.1 blocks per game were the sixth most in the league.
He has grabbed double-digit rebounds in 10 career contests and turned eight of them into double doubles, all in the 2023-24 campaign. Coleman-Jones has scored 10 or more points in 21 career games, 19 of which came last season, and includes a career-high 20 points against Western Kentucky on Feb. 24.
As a junior in 2022-23, he scored 3.7 points and pulled down 2.5 rebounds in 31 games off the bench with his points/rebounds/assists at 23.1 per 40 minutes played. Coleman-Jones shot a career-high 52.6 percent (51-of-97) from the floor, with 17 games of at least 40.0 percent shooting, and dished out a then career-best 13 assists and matched a career-high with seven steals. His then career-best 10 rebounds came against No. 21 Florida Atlantic on Jan. 26.
Coleman-Jones suffered an injury prior to the season and utilized his redshirt year in 2021-22.
In 2020-21 at Middle Tennessee State, his sophomore season, he played in 15 of the team's 23 games, including earning his first four collegiate starts. He averaged 2.8 points and 2.5 rebounds in 11.3 minutes per outing. He shot over 50 percent in eight games and knocked down his lone three-point attempt. He set a then career-best of seven rebounds and two steals against Omaha on Nov. 26, 2020.
In his freshman campaign, as a member of the Northwestern program, he appeared in each of the team's 31 games, all off the bench. He averaged 2.9 points and 2.1 rebounds in 10.2 minutes per game, and added 13 blocks, seven steals and five assists in a total of 315 minutes. Coleman-Jones scored in double figures twice, 11 points at Rutgers on Feb. 9 and a season-high 12 points against Michigan in the next game, on Feb. 12, and for the year shot at least 40.0 percent from the field in 17 games.
A 2019 graduate of McEachern High School in Powder Springs, Ga., where, as a senior, the team posted a 32-0 record, won the 7A state championship, and finished the season ranked No. 2 in the nation by MaxPreps. Reportedly averaged double figure points, rebounds and blocks as a senior while finishing his high school career with more than 1,000 points and rebounds.