Former Woodbury basketball star Michael Jones makes history transferring to Stanford

Woodbury's Michael Jones' claim to college basketball fame before this season was coming close to matching Steph Curry's single-game three-point record at Davidson.

Then the 6-foot-5 guard transferred to Stanford, becoming the program's first-ever graduate transfer and first transfer in 13 years.

Jones hasn't finished adding to his resume, though. He's trying to help lead the Cardinal to its first NCAA tournament since 2014.

"It's something really cool to be part of history," Jones said. "They pitched that to me in the recruiting process, and it's something I'm very proud of. Expectations for me coming in is to make an impact and be part of a great team."

Jones, who bounced back from a season-ending injury as a freshman in 2018-19 at Davidson, averaged 11.8 points, shot 42.1% from three-point range and 84.3% from the free-throw line last season.

His career-high 29 points vs. Richmond on Jan. 14 included a game-winning three-pointer with three seconds left. He went 8-for-9 from beyond the arc, one shy of Curry's school record in a game.

Curry basically put Davidson on the college basketball map during his breakout performance in the NCAA tournament in 2008. More than a decade later, Jones was on a Wildcats team that went 27-7, the most victories in a season since a certain Golden State Warriors legend was in college.

After being part of an Atlantic 10 regular-season title run, Jones saw his four-year career with Davidson end in bittersweet fashion with a 74-73 loss against Michigan State in the NCAA first round.

"It was still the most fun year of basketball I've ever had playing," Jones said. "Every four-year class at Davidson who stayed there four years made the NCAA tournament since 1994. It was good for us to keep that streak going."

After entering the transfer portal in the spring, Jones heard from several high major programs, including the Gophers. His finalists were Stanford, Alabama and Northwestern.

The academic piece at Stanford was an obvious selling point. He's pursuing a master's degree in statistics, but he's also now the only Cardinal to play in the NCAA tournament.

"With Michael, we have somebody who's a little bit more experienced, a little older, and the reality is there's a difference," Stanford coach Jerod Haase said. "Not only is he a great player, but he has that experience as well."

There's also some history with Minnesotans playing for Stanford in recent years with former DeLaSalle stars Tyrell Terry (2019-20) and Reid Travis (2014-18).

"Minnesota's such a basketball hotbed," Jones said. "So many great players from there, especially in the last five, 10 years. It's great to be part of a list of Minnesota college players in the Pac-12 and other Power Five schools."