Jayden Stone Speaks on Last Year's Freak Injury, Departure from West Virginia

One of the transfers that was expected to have a big impact last year for West Virginia, Jayden Stone, never got the opportunity to suit up in a regular-season game in the Old Gold and Blue.

Stone appeared in the team's exhibition and was then sidelined for the remainder of the season with an undisclosed injury. Then head coach Darian DeVries never truly commented on the matter, and now we know why.

Stone told Missouri reporters that he landed on his head in practice, which caused a concussion and spinal injury, and spent time in the hospital getting treatment. He suffered three seizures from the injury, yet said that his goal was to return to the floor by Big 12 play, but just didn't feel confident enough and said he felt "defeated" by the situation.

“I didn’t know that I was going to be on another team because I had the freak injury, and I didn’t know whether I was going to be able to play again because I had lost movement in the left side of my body for about three weeks," Stone told reporters when asked about his opportunity to play for Missouri. "I just didn’t know what the future was going to hold as I was recovering, playing a little bit more in practice. The West Virginia staff was brilliant in getting me back. I didn’t really want to leave, but obviously, the new coaching staff and folks had to come, and I was just like, I’m probably going to have to go back home. I’m not good enough to play in the U.S., especially with what happened to my body.”

Stone further expanded on why he didn't want to leave WVU, stating, “DeVries left, and I hadn’t built that relationship with DeVries. I built outside of it with the general manager, and he left as well. I don’t want to transfer again because it looks poorly on players every time you transfer, and oh, he’s just here for the NIL. I just didn’t want to feel like a leech to the system.”

Had Stone decided to return home to Australia, he says he planned on taking a break to spend time with his family and to make sure he was in a strong place mentally and spiritually. Faith has been a big part of his life, and it's helped him get through the injury and also with his confidence on the floor since his return.

In Missouri's season-opening win over Howard, Stone played 27 minutes, scored 13 points on 5/7 shooting, including a 3/4 performance from beyond the arc. He also chipped in five rebounds and three assists.

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