PORTLAND — When the Maine Red Claws hold their third home opener on Dec. 3, there is a chance the usual sellout crowd at the Portland Expo will be cheering a fellow Mainer.

Former Erskine Academy and Husson star Josh Jones is one of 13 players on the Red Claws’ training camp roster. Jones, who is from Jefferson, is the  second Maine native to wear a Red Claws uniform. Former Lawrence High School and Maine Maritime Academy star Matt Clement was cut during training camp before the Red Claws’ inaugural season in 2009.

Jones, who averaged 19 points and 11 rebounds per game last year at Husson, isn’t on the squad to sell tickets (the Red Claws, who have played exhibition games in Augusta in the past don’t have any preseason games this year) or generate buzz for the perpetually sold-out NBA Development League franchise.

Red Claws president and general manager Jon Jennings and first-year coach Dave Leitao have been intrigued with the potential of the 6-foot-4, 198-pound Jones since they first saw him in September at a Boston tryout camp.

“He was one of the best players in that entire camp,” Jennings said.

The Red Claws wanted to sign Jones as a free agent, but he had already signed a contract with the Development League after attending a two-day national tryout camp in Louisville, Ky. That meant he could only be acquired through the league’s Nov. 3 draft.

The Rio Grande Valley Vipers selected him in the sixth round. But before Jones, who had played college basketball for a year in Odessa, TX, could plan for a return to the Lone Star State, the Vipers traded him to Maine for the Red Claws’ third-round pick, Charles Okwandu of the University of  Connecticut.

“I was thinking maybe Springfield or somewhere else (would draft him), but then it was Houston and I was, like, ‘Oh, alright. Guess I’m going down South,” Jones said. “Then the next morning, I got a call (from Leitao and Jennings) saying, ‘Nope, you’re going to be staying in Portland.’ So that was pretty nice.”

“It’s an opportunity for him,” Jennings said. “There are no guarantees in basketball. He’s played well to date. We’ll just see how it continues to go.”

A center at Erskine and forward at Husson (where he was the North Atlantic Conference player of the year and NAC tournament MVP last year), Jones is trying to make the Red Claws as a shooting guard. The brain trust likes his athleticism, toughness and ability to get to the basket, and they are happy with what he’s shown of his perimeter game in their three-day old training camp.

“He’s a guy with a really good opportunity and a guy that also has some pretty good upside,” Leitao said. “He’s athletic. He understands the game. He’s had success on the collegiate level, regardless of what level, and that gives him a certain confidence about his game.”

Having that confidence helps when trying to learn a new position, Jones said.

“It’s definitely all new to me, but as every day goes by, it starts to click a lot easier for me,” he said.

“My coach at the national camp, (former NBA guard) Doug Christie, told me ‘You’ve just got to keep working hard. Nobody has the heart to rebound like you do.’ That’s something I did up at Husson, so I might as well take that at the next level,” Jones said.

Jennings called Jones’ position change “an unusual set of circumstances,” and added that, in some respects, Jones reminds him of a Hall-of-Famer Jennings knew when he was an assistant coach with the Boston Celtics, Dennis Johnson.

“DJ and Josh were about the same size. And DJ was actually one of the best guards in the history of the NBA in terms of posting a player up. I see Josh’s ability to actually take a small guard down into the post, because he has that skill set,” Jennings said.

“Making that transition, although it seems to be a daunting task, I don’t think it will be as difficult thing for him because he already has a face the basket type game to him,” Leitao said.

Jones knows about transitions, having gone from Erskine to prep school at Maine Central Institute and in Illinois and from prep school to Division II college hoops in Texas and two years at Division III Husson.

Getting his first crack at professional basketball in his home state will help. But for him to still be on the roster when final cuts happen on Nov. 23, Jones knows he’ll have to make a very good impression.

He also knows that if he makes the team, his work will have just begun.

“I know that it was going to be a big year, a tough year for me. I know that I’ve got a lot to work on in my game. But having the ability to play in front of the fans and a home crowd, it’s going to help me a lot,” he said.

“Every time I’m going to step on the floor, even just to take a charge, just to be able to do it for us, to show that we can hoop up here in Maine,” he said. “I’m definitely willing to take the challenge.”