Dominique Jones: Big East Rookie of the Week

On Monday, Bulls freshman guard Dominique Jones earned BIG EAST Conference Rookie of the Week for his performance last week against FIU and UCF.

During the two game span the 6’4 true freshman guard averaged 22 points, 4.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 3.0 steals in the Bulls two wins over instate foes.

"Dominique as a freshman was terrific, just so aggressive in making a lot of plays out there He played really well,” said USF head coach Stan Heath. He is growing up. Not only can he score but he’s got a good feel for the game out there. When he gets the ball in the open floor he’s really dangerous. I thought what got him going was he got some offense through his defense. He got some steals early in the game and I thought that got him going.”

Against UCF at the Sun Dome Saturday, Jones scored a career-high 30 points on 10-of-13 shooting from the field while hitting 4-of-6 from 3-point range in the 75-67 win. The 30 points is a team high this season and was only three points away from the USF freshman record of 33 set by Redenko Dobras’ in 1989. The freshman also dished out five assists, and had four rebounds, and four steals during the contest.

“The main thing I was feeling comfortable,” said Jones. “I was comfortable out there on the court even if I made a mistake. That played a big part in what I did. Jones also added, “I was just looking for open spots and looking for places to get open. They always tell me about being ready to shoot and cut hard, and I was just thinking think that in my mind every time we got on offense.”

At Florida International the true freshman ad a solid game, scoring 14 points, five rebounds, two assists, and two steals in the 77-69 win.

Jones has been electric so far in his freshman season. He is the Bulls second leading scorer averaging 14 points per game and leads the team in steals with 16. Jones also is second on the team in assists with 23, behind Chris Howard who leads the Big East with 7.1 per game.

“As long as he doesn’t read the paper I’ll feel good about it because I don’t want him to get a big head," Added Heath.

USF has now won five in a row after starting out 0-3 on the season. For the Bulls next contest they go on the road against Richmond on Wednesday.