Auburn Basketball's Denver Jones' New Role Shows Eagerness to Win

As the Auburn Tigers establish their 2024-25, Denver Jones looks to embrace his new role as point guard and win

Denver Jones is eager to win games and his new role shows his willingness to do what it takes / Gary Cosby Jr.-Tuscaloosa News / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Auburn Tigers will have a different look in the backcourt this season.

The Tigers had three guards, Tre Donaldson, Aden Holloway and KD Johnson enter the transfer portal. Denver Jones will be playing more of a role at point guard for the Tigers this season.

It was role he had been interested in jumping in to. Following some discussions with Jones’ about his role in the spring head coach Bruce Pearl concluded it’s a role that the sophomore can take on.

“It was something that I thought would be good for him and for us,” Pearl said.

He added that he’s entrusting Pearl with a key position on the court. He even compared the position to a quarterback.  

“I would venture to say that the most challenging thing on the basketball court is playing point guard and another position. That's really challenging. You can play center and power forward. You can play on the wings. But the responsibility of -- I still want him to be aggressive, and I still want him to lead the team.”

Jones averaged 9.1 points per game last season, making him Auburn’s fourth-highest scorer. He understands how important of a role he is taking on. However, he’s willing to do whatever he needs to do to win games this season.

“I feel like everything will take care of itself,” Jones said. “Me playing point this year is a bigger role, especially running point with this Auburn offense. Honestly, I just want to win."

A significant change to Auburn’s roster this season is the absence of Holloway, a former five-star recruit who hit the transfer portal and signed with the Tigers’ biggest rival, Alabama.

Everyone is cool behind the scenes. But there is something to a teammate going to a rival. Jones made it clear it’s going to get them amped up for the matchups.

“It has been cool,” Jones said. “After the year was over with, BP had a meeting with me and mentioned I was going to play point because Aden was leaving. I feel that it has been a great transition for us. That is our brother and still our brother to this day. But we let him know that he is at the rivalry school. He knows that there is going to be some fire ignited when we play them.”