TALLAHASSEE – Just before one of the final practices of his first summer at Florida State, head coach Luke Loucks gathered his team on the court at the FSU Basketball Training Center and cued video coordinator Kyle Washington to start an eye-opening series of shots.

Once the video started, Loucks began to count …

1 … 2 … 3 … 4 … 5 … 6 … 7… 8 … 9.

When he got to nine, he led a loud cheer with his team as they had just witnessed nine consecutive 3-point shots made during an earlier scrimmage by newcomer LaJae Jones, a transfer from St. Bonaventure University.

“We’ve got some serious high-level shooters,” said Loucks as he extolled Jones’s nine consecutive made 3-point shots. “And that’s from me coming from the NBA, where it’s the best shooting in the world. We have some guys who can really, really shoot the ball.”

A natural lefthander with a disruptive 6-10 wing span, Jones comes to Florida State known both for his offense and as a lock down defender.  In three collegiate seasons and 80 career games played – most recently at St. Bonaventure in the Atlantic 10 during the 2024-25 season — he averages 12.2 points scored and shoots .399 percent from 3-point range. Jones averaged nearly 50 made 3-point shots in the last two seasons.

In his only season at St. Bonaventure, he averaged 10.8 points and 5.8 rebounds in leading the Bonnies to the 2025 NIT.

Jones was born into a basketball family and has been told that his father, Jackie, put a basketball in his hands the day after he was born.

“My parents have had a very big impact on my life and my basketball career,” said Jones. “They sacrificed a lot of their time for me to play the game I love. My mom and dad blessed me with a very good childhood.”

It’s also from his parents that he got his first name.  LaJae’s dad wanted him to be known as ‘Little Jackie’ without having the formal name of Jackie.

Jones credits his father with instilling the love of basketball into his everyday life.

Jackie was an All-American at Barton Community College and finished his career as one of the most prolific players in Cougar history. He averaged a double-double in points and rebounds in helping Barton to a program record for wins, including the program’s highest ever ranking. Jackie moved onto the University of Oklahoma where he is still in the Sooners’ record book for blocks during his ‘Big Eight Newcomer of the Year’ season. He averaged 15.0 points and 7.0 rebounds during his one season at Oklahoma and a was a member of the Dallas Mavericks’ roster prior to the start of the 1991 NBA season.

“My father impacted my basketball career by teaching me how to play the game the right way,” said Jones. “He instilled a work ethic in me and always pushed me to improve myself. No matter what, he has always had my back.”

Jones followed his dad to Barton C.C., following his first collegiate season at Tarleton State.

And what a year it was.

Jones led the Cougars to the junior college national championship, leading the team in scoring (15.4 points per game), rebounding (9.2 rebounds per game) and field goal shooting percentage (.540). Barton finished with a 36-1 record – a record that included a 27-game winning streak. Jones earned All-American Second-Team honors from the National Junior College Athletic Association, was named to the Region VI/KJCCC (Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference) First Team, and was named as the Most Valuable Player of the NJCAA Division I Tournament (winning the William French Most Valuable Player Award).

While he was starring at Barton during the 2023-2024 season, he was on hand to watch in person as his father was inducted into the Barton Community College Athletics Hall of Fame.

“It was a great experience for me,” said Jones. “My dad had me come up and give a speech at the last minute. I had to come up with something to say; the speech and the ceremony turned out great.”

Jones celebrated his father’s Hall of fame induction with a 19-point, four-rebound effort in a 71-65 win over Cloud Community College on January 31, 2024 – the day of his father’s ceremony on the Barton campus.

As illustrated by his statistics throughout his career, Jones has always been an exceptional player.

He totaled 1,426 points, 594 rebounds, 197 assists, 176 steals and 165 blocks in his high school career at Duncan U. Fletcher in Jacksonville. Upon his graduation in 2022, he became the first player from Fletcher since 1997 to sign a scholarship at a Division I men’s basketball program directly out of high school.

In three seasons as a collegian, he is shooting .508 percent from the field, .394 from the 3-point line, and .760 percent from the free throw line. He’s made 95 career 3-point shots and needs just 26 points to reach 1,000 career points for his career.

As he makes the journey down Interstate 10 from his hometown on the Gold Coast of Florida, he is squarely focused on earning his degree in social science in May of 2026 and being the best version of himself on the basketball court.

“With Coach Loucks and his staff coming from the NBA, I am looking forward to continuing to improve as a basketball player,” said Jones. “The NBA knowledge of our coaching staff at Florida State definitely influenced me to become a Seminole. I felt like Florida State under Coach Loucks was the best fit for my style of play and Florida State University was the best fit academically.”

One of Jones’s most vivid memories of his first season at Florida State will certainly date back to the beginning of his Seminole career when Loucks made a big deal of his success from the 3-point line in a mid-week practice during his third month on campus.

“It definitely felt good for Coach to show that clip,” said Jones. “All of the coaches like to celebrate the big wins as well as the little wins, too. That’s a big part of what’s going to make this year special for me.”