FOREST, Va. – Cultivating an impressively balanced debut as a Quaker, Oliver Jones (Middletown, Del.) of the Guilford College men's basketball team wasted no time collecting some accolades, netting Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) Defensive Player of the Week recognition for Division-III's opening weekend, ending on November 8^th, as announced by the conference offices on Monday afternoon.

Coming out of the weekend with seven steals in GC's 105-85 runaway victory over Pfeiffer, Jones' total finished ranked tied for second in Division-III for steals in a single game during opening weekend. Despite many of his colleagues having multiple matchups to get there against his singular game played, Jones' thefts total ranks tied for tenth nationally, and while he does have company at the top, the result is the junior guard flexing the highest steals per game mark in the NCAA regardless of division at the conclusion of this week's play. His all-around impact was what made his debut all the more impressive, as after transferring in from ODAC rival, Randolph-Macon College, Jones showed off his balanced skillset. He netted 17 points, the third-most on the team in their season-opener, reaching that total on an efficient 8-of-15 shooting while securing four rebounds, all of them on the offensive end, and assisting on five baskets that accounted for 13 extra tallies. He did all that despite being limited to just-under 20-and-a-half minutes of playing time because he picked up two fouls in the game's initial 81 seconds, and a third just before halftime, adding even deeper context to his aggressive and effective play.

Jones has the men's basketball program picking up right where they left off last winter when all-five starters got recognized with an ODAC Player of the Week honor at-least once en route to a conference-high and program-record eight total weekly awards. Three separate Quakers got the Defensive Player of the Week last season as Rival Axselle '26 and Dawson Edwards '24, MBA '25, MISM '26 got it once along with Kody Clayton '26 who secured a tandem of honors, including the last one for the final week of the regular season, ending on February 23^rd.

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