Rubin Jones will impact Michigan basketball with his pass-first mentality and lock-down defensive mindset

The Wolverines brought Rubin Jones in from North Texas who is known as one of the best defenders in basketball.

Nov 19, 2023; Charleston, SC, USA; Towson Tigers forward Tomiwa Sulaiman (1) defends against North Texas Mean Green guard Rubin Jones (15) in the second half at TD Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Yeazell-USA TODAY Sports / David Yeazell-USA TODAY Sports

First-year Michigan men's basketball head coach Dusty May plays with a high-flying offensive tempo. FAU didn't waste too much time getting the basketball up the court and putting up some sort of a shot. So when May went out and landed North Texas guard, Rubin Jones, from the transfer portal, it made a lot of sense, but there were some questions as well. Jones, known as a lock-down defender played at North Texas who had one of the slowest tempos in college basketball.

But May has been on record saying Jones was the best defender in their conference and with how highly the former FAU coach spoke about Jones -- the fit appears to be perfect. Jones appeared on Defend The Block and spoke about playing against May more than once during his career and how spoke about his basketball game.

North Texas has been one of the best teams in the AAC Conference and has had to face Coach May's team plenty of times. The Mean Green and FAU have two completely different styles of basketball, but with Jones being a top-notch defender, he even says it's just different when you have to go up against a May-led team.

“Definitely. I mean, I remember the first time we played them vividly. I remember running into a screen from Vlad [Goldin] and feeling like my shoulder popping out of place," said Jones on playing FAU. "I remember just chasing people all around the court. It's just a whole different feel against Coach May.”

North Texas was last in college basketball in temp in two of the four years Jones was on the team and the Mean Green were in the bottom 10 all four years. While that sounds like a huge change for a player like Jones transitioning to a up-tempo style that May runs, Jones spoke about how his high school was high-flying. They scored over 100 points consistently. But Jones believes playing at North Texas has helped him learn to balance things better in his own game.

“Just being able to slow down, that kind of helped me a lot just because I learned how to balance the speed, with the pace, with the -- I kind of learned how to balance the two," said Jones on the playing style at North Texas. "It kind of helped me a lot, but I'm so excited to be back running and being able to be in that open court making plays. I love being on a fast break, throwing no looks or throwing crazy passes. That's just my -- I feel like that's when the game is most fun and when I'm at my best.”

Jones is listed as a guard who plays the wing plenty. But he is actually also a pass-first offensive player who can play some point guard. Tre Donaldson was brought in from Auburn to start at point guard at Michigan, but Jones shared that he enjoys playing the position and prides himself on his versatility. He averaged nearly four assists per game last year for the Mean Green. Offensively, Jones also put up 12.1 points and shot 41.6% from deep.

“Well, actually, in middle school, eighth grade, I got an award for being the most versatile player, being able to play multiple positions," Jones on playing multiple positions. "And throughout my whole high school career, I feel like that was always my strong suit. So coming in freshman year, I was actually recruited as a wing because on my AAU team, I played as a wing. And, you know, we didn't have a secondary point guard behind. I was playing behind player of the year, JV. Young-Hamlet, and we didn't have a secondary point guard. So I just played point guard my freshman year a little bit. But when he got in the game, you know, I'll play from the 2 to the 4. So I'll play like really basically whatever you need. I'll play it. I love to pass. So I am, I am point guard. You know, I do like playing point guard, but I'm definitely a player that you can kind of put in any system, put in any situation, and I'm going to figure out a way to get it done.”

How did Jones become such a lock-down defender? It's as simple as playing against his older brother in the driveway growing up. He had to learn how to stop his brother from scoring the basketball. He admitted he was never the best scorer growing up, so he had to figure out another way to impact the game. Between passing the ball and making plays on defense -- he figured it out.

“A lot of people like teach you all these offensive concepts and all these things, like, you know, but at the end of the day, you can get stops, you can also win this game," Jones said on his defensive philosophy. "Like, it's not just about getting buckets. And I also wasn't always the best scorer. I wasn't always the most -- you look in the box score, I'm never going to be the top of it every time, because I love to pass the ball so much. And when you're younger, they don't count assists, they don't count plus-minus, all they do is scoring. So, me, to get in the game some way, somehow you got to figure out a way. And defense was my way for a long time.”

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