Xavier’s Colby Jones drafted by Hornets, traded to Kings

Xavier University guard Colby Jones was selected by the Charlotte Hornets in the second round of the 2023 NBA Draft with the 34th overall pick. Draft night trades have Jones now headed to the Sacramento Kings.

Edmond Sumner, currently with the Brooklyn, was XU's last NBA Draft pick as a second round selection in the 2017 draft by New Orleans, which traded his rights to the Indiana. Jones is Xavier's 40th all-time NBA Draft choice, including the 16th XU player selected in either the first or second round.

Jones, who played three seasons at Xavier, was selected to the 2022-23 All-BIG EAST Second Team by the league coaches and by the Associated Press, while helping lead Xavier to the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16. An NABC All-District 5 Second Team selection and a late season Julius Erving Award Top 10 Candidate, Jones finished second on the team in scoring at 15.0 ppg. (11th in the BIG EAST) and rebounds (17th in the BIG EAST at 5.7 rpg.) and led the team in assists at 4.4 apg. (seventh in the BIG EAST).

He was named to the 2023 All-BIG EAST Tournament team after averaging 14.3 ppg. and 7.0 rpg. for XU's three games at Madison Square Garden. As a junior, Jones won the 2022 NIT MVP Award as he led XU to the National Invitation Tournament Championship at MSG.

Xavier head coach Sean Miller is no stranger to placing former players in the NBA. With the exception of only John Calipari at the University of Kentucky, no other active head coach can claim a deeper roster of NBA players than Miller. Over the course of the last 19 seasons as a head coach, Miller has seen 25 players that he has signed and/or coached move on to play professionally in the NBA, including Jones. Of these 25, 12 were selected in the NBA Draft First Round, including six NBA Lottery picks.

Miller had nine players suit up for NBA teams in 2022-23 alone, including 2023 NBA Champions Aaron Gordon (Denver Nuggets) and Zeke Nnaji (Denver Nuggets). The others were Bennedict Mathurin (Indiana Pacers), Christian Koloko (Toronto Raptors), Dalen Terry (Chicago Bulls), Deandre Ayton (Phoenix Suns), Josh Green (Dallas Mavericks), Lauri Markkanen (Utah Jazz) and TJ McConnell (Indiana Pacers).