Acie Law wondered a few weeks ago whether or not Joseph Jones would want to come back to Texas A&M knowing that the primary post option was going to be incoming freshman DeAndre Jordan.
He was right. But new coach Mark Turgeon said that Jones can play the high post quite well and sees no reason why Jones and Jordan won't play well together next season.
Jones made his decision to withdraw from the NBA draft Tuesday, which should help Turgeon keep the Aggies in NCAA Tournament contention.
"Joe has stretched his game and he's got a nice 15- to 17-foot touch," Turgeon said. "I think it will be a heckuva frontline."
Turgeon said he can envision sophomore Donald Sloan taking over for Law at the point. The Aggies lost Law, Antanas Kavaliauskas and Marlon Pompey but return a solid crew of guards in Sloan, Dominique Kirk and Josh Carter. The surprise on the squad so far for Turgeon has been forward Bryan Davis, who averaged just 1.9 points a game last season.
"We've got a good mix of upperclassmen and freshmen and sophomores," Turgeon said. "Joe got what he wanted. He tested the waters and saw where he is and what he needs to do."
Turgeon said he looked into taking a foreign trip in the fall or summer but decided against it. The Aggies highlight in the nonconference schedule will be to play in the NIT Season Tip-Off as a host school with Washington, Ohio State and Syracuse.
Final nuggets
• Cal junior DeVon Hardin, who missed all but 12 games this season with a foot injury, is certainly acting as if he's going to stay in the draft. Hardin worked out in a combined New York/New Jersey workout Monday. The Nets hold the 17th pick and are clearly interested in Hardin. There is no guarantee but working out for the Nets is a good sign. A better sign may be that, according to Cal coach Ben Braun, Hardin has a workout scheduled with Golden State, which picks No. 18. Hardin is supposedly funding the trips by himself. He is expected to make a final decision later in the week, which is on schedule since the deadline to withdraw is Monday. A number of NBA teams told ESPN.com that they expect Hardin to stay in the draft. If he returns to school, then the Bears will have one of the top frontcourts in the Pac-10 (which is saying something with Stanford's, UCLA's and Washington's). The Bears return one of the top freshmen in the country in Ryan Anderson, as well as getting Jordan Wilkes back from a season-ending knee injury. Duke transfer Jamal Boykin will be eligible at mid-season to give the Bears four solid posts if Hardin returns. Braun said he has the replacements for departed senior guard Ayinde Ubaka in Jerome Randle and Nikola Knezevic, who missed the season with a knee injury.
"If everybody is back and healthy we'll be fine," Braun said.
• Marquette coach Tom Crean said he's going to bump former assistant Tim Buckley up from his brief two-week stint as director of basketball operations to an assistant coaching position. Buckley will replace Jerry Sichting, who left the staff to become an assistant with the Minnesota Timberwolves. Buckley was at Iowa last season with Steve Alford. Prior to that he was the head coach at Ball State. Buckley is seeking an estimated $75,000 in back pay from the school after being reassigned without, what he claimed to be, a real job.
• Look for a few names to try and get involved at Coastal Carolina now that Buzz Peterson took the player personnel job with the Charlotte Bobcats. Peterson told ESPN.com he will push assistant Jamie Kachmarik for the job. Former Clemson coach Cliff Ellis and South Carolina assistant Ken Potosnak, who has been at Furman and the Citadel in the state, are also candidates. Potosnak has been in the state for 16 years. Dan D'Antoni, brother of Phoenix Suns coach Mike D'Antoni and now an assistant with the Suns, is from Myrtle Beach, S.C., and could be a candidate as well.
• Milwaukee worked out Jeff Green of Georgetown Tuesday. The Bucks left impressed but without knowing if Green will stay in the draft past Monday.
• The Seattle Times reported the four finalists for the Eastern Washington job after Mike Burns was abruptly fired: Washington assistant Jim Shaw, Seattle Pacific coach Jeff Hironaka, former Boise State coach Rod Jensen and UNC-Wilmington assistant Kirk Earlywine. Earlywine has strong ties to the West after working for Rick Majerus at Utah.
Andy Katz
