Long Beach’s Brian Jones Moving to Dominguez Hills

Brian Jones, a 6-foot-4 sophomore guard who quit the basketball team at Cal State Long Beach 10 days ago, said Friday that he is transferring to Cal State Dominguez Hills.

“I’m very happy,” Jones said. “I’ve heard good things about (Dominguez Hills).”

Jones said he would begin classes Monday. He would be eligible to play for the Toros in December if he passes 24 units. He is the second Division I player in a week to transfer to Dominguez Hills, a Division II school. Earlier, Keith Billingslea, a 6-foot-2 junior guard who was the leading scorer at the University of Northern Arizona, quit the team and enrolled at Dominguez Hills.

Jones and Billingslea are expected to give the program at Dominguez Hills a major lift next year. This season the Toros are 5-12.

Jones, a graduate of Fremont High School, signed early with Long Beach, redshirted, then started three games as a freshman last season. But this year he played in only six games as a reserve.

“He’s a nice player,” Toro Coach Dave Yanai said of Jones. “We wanted to recruit him out of high school, but he signed early with Long Beach.”