Lamont (Momo) Jones holds much of the near future of the Arizona men’s basketball team in his hands. With Nic Wise graduating, the Harlem native will likely start the coming season as the Wildcats’ first-string point guard. And he wants nothing more than to bring the program back to prominence.
“I get to take over a team that returns everybody except for one player, a team that has a lot of potential, a team that is willing to work hard and that’s willing to get back to school,” Jones said after scoring 10 points for Bingo’s All-Stars in a win against Team 914 on Wednesday night at Dyckman.
The process starts as early as Saturday. That’s when Jones heads back to Tucson for a summer session of classes and workouts.
Arizona went 16-15 last season, including a 10-8 record in the Pac-10. The 6-foot Jones was the team’s sixth man, scoring 6.6 points in 18.8 minutes per game. Along with the increase in responsibility, the former Rice HS and Oak Hill Academy star appreciates the atmosphere in the Southwest as well. It’s a stark contrast to the hustle and bustle of New York City.
Jones, who was one of the top rated point guards in the country coming out of Oak Hill last year, initially committed to Louisville and then USC. But when former Xavier coach Sean Miller and assistant Book Richardson, formerly of the Gauchos, came to Arizona, Jones followed soon after. He couldn’t be more happy with his decision.
“It’s going great,” Jones said. “I love it. It’s a quiet place. I can relax, I can focus. I don’t have too many people in my ear. It’s real nice, it’s real laid back. I can have fun and I can get away when I need to get away. I can just go home and not have anybody hassle me and things like that.”
Those are also the selling points Jones is using on recent Rice graduate Kadeem Jack, who has quickly become one of the hottest recruits in the country. Jack, who also plays for the Gauchos, will play a prep season at South Kent (Conn.), but Jones hopes he joins him in Tucson after that. The Wildcats are pretty high on Jack’s list and Arizona also has Bronx native Kevin Parrom, who played at St. Raymond and South Kent, on the roster.
“We want him,” Jones said. “He knows we want him. We’ve reached out to him. He’s been on campus a couple of times. But it’s up to him to make the decision – him and his supporting cast. I wish them the best. He’s a great kid, great athlete and we would love to have him. But if he decides to go another route, no hard feelings.”
Right now, Jones is just focused on the current team at Arizona, one that he thinks can do big things as soon as this winter. Just about the entire roster will be back in Tucson this weekend to start preparation.
“We have our entire team here for the summer, including the newcomers,” Miller told arizonawildcats.com last week. “It’s a time for them to lift weights, to shoot and to try to develop some chemistry. A lot of times great chemistry develops in the summer because they are all here investing in getting better together. They are working on their skills with the shared goal of returning for next season improved, both as an individual and as a team.”