After two quiet seasons at the University of Texas, sophomore Jaylen Bond made the decision to transfer. Bond, a 6-7 forward from Philadelphia, averaged just 3.1 points and 4.1 rebounds in just under 14 minutes per game during his Longhorn career.
Friday, Bond announced his decision to transfer to Temple via Twitter and it’s safe to say that he’s looking forward to playing in his hometown.
After sitting out the 2013-14 season per NCAA transfer rules Bond will have two seasons of eligibility remaining, adding experience to a group that lost both Rahlir Hollis-Jefferson (8.9 ppg, 6.1 rpg), Jake O’Brien (9.3 ppg, 3.3 rpg) and Scootie Randall (11.3 ppg, 6.3 rpg) from this season’s 24-win team.
Anthony Lee will lead the way for Fran Dunphy’s team in the front court next season and he’s capable of doing so, as he averaged 9.8 points and a team-best 6.8 rebounds per game.
The question for Temple, as they enter their first season in the American Athletic Conference, is which young players are capable of stepping up and being a factor inside.
Daniel Dingle (ten games, 3.8 mpg) and Devontae Watson (six games, 2.0 mpg) saw little playing time as freshmen, and the same can be said for 6-10 redshirt sophomore Jimmy McDonnell (six games, 1.8 mpg).
Joining them is incoming freshman forward Mark Williams, who averaged 16 points and 11 rebounds per game as a senior at Montrose Christian.
Adding Bond to the mix will help prepare Williams and Watson to take on bigger roles next season, and with the Owls’ schedule including conference opponents such as Louisville (for one season), Memphis and UConn those youngsters need to be ready when league play rolls around.
Raphielle can be followed on Twitter at @raphiellej.