There's nowhere else Kam Jones would rather be.

It's a Monday in early July and the Marquette men's basketball team is in the lab while the campus' classrooms are still mostly quiet in the summer. Inside windowless Kasten Gym, the Golden Eagles are repping offensive actions again and again with three teams of four players.

Jones, MU's leading scorer last season at 17.2 points per game and a likely preseason All-American as a senior in the fall, has been paired with big man Caedin Hamilton, who redshirted last season, and freshmen Damarius Owens and Royce Parham. MU head coach Shaka Smart has clear reasons for doing that.

Jones is forced to correct, pump up and, at times, admonish his younger teammates. Each action starts with the ball in his hands as he gets a feel for how Hamilton sets a screen. There are occasional miscommunications and Smart gives some course corrections, but Jones also pops behind Hamilton for a deep three and finds a gap in the defense for one of his signature spinning finishes in the paint.

This is exactly where Jones wants to be. He didn't test the waters of the NBA draft. He didn't entertain the notion of entering the transfer portal and creating a name, image and likeness bidding war for his services. With Tyler Kolek and Oso Ighodaro now in the NBA, MU has leadership and play-making voids to fill.

Jones is here for it.

“Pretty much, I really didn’t want to leave," Jones said. "Especially with how last season ended. I knew that if I did my job this next season, to the ability that I know I’m capable of, I’ll be a lottery pick next season.

“Just trusting my coaches. They were telling me about how that this last year is something that I needed. And hearing their logic behind it, I came to the conclusion that they were right. I need this next year. Take this whole summer, be with the team. Be with everybody that you’re going to be with during the season.”

Kam Jones passed on the NBA draft, transfer portal

Jones is a rarity these days in college basketball, a four-year player at the same school who has taken big leaps every season.

"It means a lot," Jones said. "Marquette, having that across the chest, it means something to me. I love this university. I’m trying to go out the best player in Marquette history. I think there’s opportunities out there that are going to occur throughout (his senior season) that could allow me to do that.”

Jones will always be a bit of a free spirit, but Smart has noticed a different edge to the 6-foot-5 guard.

"He’s had his best offseason since he’s been here," Smart said. "Honestly, Kam’s never been our best guy in the offseason. In the past. But he’s really matured this spring and summer.

"Understanding that 'this is my last go-round. I have to make every day count. And most importantly, the example that I demonstrate really, really matters to my teammates.' "

A strong finish to last season, including six games as a primary playmaker when Kolek was out with an oblique injury, prompted Jones to appear on many mock NBA drafts. Jones returned to MU because he felt he could show more of his game.

"I’m definitely going to have the ball more, especially with Tyler and O gone," Jones said. "I feel like having the ball more is having more opportunities to do the things I’ve been doing.

"Make the right reads. Take the open shots. Take the shot that I like. Go out there and play the game that I know how. It ain’t going to be nothing that really changes. Just more opportunities.”

Jones could have entered the transfer portal and been one of the most sought-after players. But he shut all that down with a simple graphic on social media in April that announced "I'm staying home."

"I was so grateful to not hear from anyone," Jones said. "That was my deal of not even leaving a question, like, whether I was leaving. Going to the league, transferring. I’m staying here, get that? Pretty much, don’t talk to me. I’m happy where I’m at."

Smart saw Jones was ready to work.

"He was very focused on wanting to get better," Smart said. "All of us had a bad taste in our mouth from the last game (a Sweet 16 loss to North Carolina State). And honestly, he felt like 'I could get way better for my senior year. To leave a lasting legacy here at Marquette. And to put myself in a better position than I’m in now in terms of long-term career potential.' "

Jones' legacy will be as one of Marquette's all-time scorers

Smart laughed at his soothsaying ability.

The MU coach predicted during Jones' freshman season, in which Jones averaged 7.4 points per game, that the guard would topple Jerel McNeal to become No. 2 on MU's all-time scoring list.

Jones' 1,391 points through three seasons has him well within striking distance of McNeal's 1,985.

"Every once in a while I might be able to see it," Smart joked.

Jones remembers his first telephone conversations with Smart when Jones was deciding if he would stick to his MU commitment after a coaching change.

"Before I even knew Coach Smart for real, he was talking about me and how much I was going to score in college," Jones said. "Not knowing him, I was probably thinking he was just talking, wanting me to get up to school.

"He actually meant it. From the first minute I stepped on campus, he’s always told me to be aggressive."

Alas, Jones is probably too many 30-foot three-pointers away from Markus Howard's record of 2,761 points.

"I’m not going to catch Markus, he’s up there," Jones said. "He was getting money. That means a lot. I’m trying to do a lot of great things, to be one of the best in Marquette history, if not the best.”

Jones knows that team success will insert his name into the discussion of MU's greatest players. Any mention of the Golden Eagles' loss to N.C. State in last season's NCAA Tournament still elicits a painful reaction.

"Kolek, D-Wade, Butch Lee, all them guys that won big," Jones said. "That put up the numbers, had the accolades. I think winning triumphs all. If you win the most, that’s what people remember the most.”

NBA players Jayson Tatum, Bam Adebayo offered advice at Chris Paul's camp

Last week, Jones attended Chris Paul's CP3 Elite Camp in Las Vegas and got to rub elbows with NBA players like the Boston Celtics' Jayson Tatum.

Last year, Jones and Kolek attended Damian Lillard's camp.

"The past few years, they’ve been great opportunities," Jones said. "I’m going to camp with Damian Lillard, CP3, all these great players. Just being able to learn is something that I would never take for granted. To the point that I would write it down, like, I won’t really forget the stuff I’ve learned."

Like what he took away from a conversation with the Miami Heat's Bam Adebayo.

"He told me some advice that’s going to help me get to the next level, seriously," Jones said. "Some stuff he was dealing with that people would look at it and think it’s Bam Adebayo, he’s not dealing with that.

"Kind of just dealing with normal human being struggles. Anxiety, et cetera. And talking about different ways he handles that and what he uses to get his mind right."

NBA scouts attended the camp, and Smart gathered intelligence about what they wanted to see from Jones as a senior.

“Mostly making the right decision with the ball in pick-and-rolls, in traffic, in the paint," Smart said.

Jones flashed that last season, especially in a 30-point, nine-assist masterpiece in MU's regular-season finale at Xavier.

"We had him in a lot of different actions," Smart said. "Up in the middle of the floor. On the side. Two-man game. Obviously at that point, it was a lot with Oso. Now it will be more with Ben Gold, Caedin Hamilton and others."

That's why Jones is happy to be back in the gym at MU, working pick-and-roll repetitions to build chemistry.

Right where he wants to be.

“Your seriousness, especially your senior year, about winning goes up tremendously," Jones said. "You only got one more chance. You have a real seriousness."

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Kam Jones may be preseason All-American after returning to Marquette