Michigan State women's basketball landed its first roster addition from the transfer portal on Sunday when Purdue sophomore guard Rashunda Jones announced her commitment to the Spartans. Jones made the announcement on her Twitter (renamed "X" by new ownership in 2023) account.
The 5-foot-8 guard will have two years of eligibility remaining when she arrives in East Lansing after spending the past two seasons with the Boilermakers in West Lafeyette.
Jones committed to Purdue as an Indiana native hailing from South Bend as the No. 79 ranked player in her class per ESPN HoopGurlz ratings. She was also named the Indiana Miss Basketball runner-up to cap off her career at South Bend Washington.
Jones played in 59 total games for the Boilermakers over her career, including 20 starts, three as a freshman and 17 this past season. As a freshman, Jones was named to the All-Big Ten freshman team by the media after finishing the year with 7.9 points per game, 2.3 rebounds per game, 1.7 assists per game, and 0.9 steals per game averaging 18.9 minutes per game.
As a sophomore, Jones saw her numbers increase to 27.3 mpg and posted 9.8 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 3.7 apg, and 1.1 spg. She also upped her field goal percentage by over 10%, from 36.6% to 47.1% and her free throw percentage year-over-year to 84.9% from 75.9% while getting to the line for six more attempts. Despite the overall increase, Jones did see her shooting percentage from 3-point range drop by almost six percentage points and on fewer attempts (down to 26 from 38 as a freshman).
Against MSU, Jones finished with two and six points respectively as a freshman and with seven this past season. Her best performance as a Boilermaker came against Penn State on Feb. 27 when Jones posted a 32-point performance alongside eight assists, six rebounds, and one steal.
Jones finished this past season as the second-leading scorer on the roster for Purdue. She appeared in all 29 games with 17 starts on the year. The Boilermakers finished the season 10-19 overall and 3-15 in Big Ten play.
Jones joins the Spartans following three players having entered into the transfer portal since the season ended for MSU. Redshirt freshman center Mary Meng along with freshmen forward Helen Holley and guard Sinai Douglass have all put their name into the portal since a loss to North Carolina State in the second round of the NCAA tournament ended a 22-10 season for the Spartans. MSU is also needing to replace graduate guards Julia Ayrault and Nyla Hampton who exhausted their eligibility this past season.
- QB
- TE
- OT
- TE
