If Tyus Jones ever writes an autobiography the first chapter might be titled “March.” The third month of the year has been special for Jones—at least for the last few years including when his interest picked up about playing for the Gophers.
Three years ago Jones was a junior point guard leading Apple Valley High School to the 2013 Class 4A championship. During that same March the late Flip Saunders, who had become friends with Jones, talked with Minnesota athletic director Norwood Teague about becoming the Gophers’ coach. The two men met in Indianapolis but couldn’t agree on a deal.
Jones told Sports Headliners a Saunders hire would have placed the Gophers among his final choices for college. “It would have,” he said.
Saunders was out of coaching in 2013 but wanted to get back in at either Minnesota, his alma mater, or returning to the NBA where his stops included the Timberwolves. When Jones was a sophomore in high school he first met the dynamic coach. “I got to know him pretty well throughout my high school days,” Jones said. “Just built a relationship with him, and he was a very humble, down to earth guy.
“What I remember him most for is how he wanted the best for me—and always looked out for me…giving me advice and being there for me.”
Two years ago this month Jones was a senior at Apple Valley when his team couldn’t defend its 2013 state title, losing the championship game in double overtime to Cretin-Derham Hall. During the month he received numerous national and local honors including prep All-American and invitations to the best postseason high school all-star games, while Duke fans anticipated the fall arrival of the school’s next great point guard.
Jones, part of a stellar freshman class at Duke, had the Blue Devils advancing through the NCAA Tournament last March. In early April, just about a month out from Jones’ 19th birthday, the Dukies celebrated an unexpected NCAA championship. The kid from suburban Minneapolis, who had flirted with the thought of playing for Saunders and the hometown Gophers, was named the Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four.
Jones decided last spring to leave Duke and enter the NBA Draft. It seemed most improbable that he could end up playing in Minneapolis for the Timberwolves. But Saunders had joined the Timberwolves during the spring of 2013 and he wanted his young friend on the roster. A draft night trade by Saunders, the franchise’s president and coach, brought Jones home.
Jones’ first NBA season has been a trial, with minimal playing time off the bench and even a demotion to the Development League, but he doesn’t regret leaving Duke to become a pro and fulfill a lifelong dream. “That’s my job now and to be able to say this is a blessing,” he said. “The cherry on the top is I am playing for the Minnesota Timberwolves.”
Jones, of course, wishes Saunders, who died unexpectedly last fall from cancer, was around to see him living his dream and to offer mentoring. Instead, other coaches and players like point guards Ricky Rubio and Andre Miller helped the rookie adjust to the pros where he has played in only 20 games while averaging 4.4 points and 2.6 assists.
Jones said he is a superior player to what he was at the beginning of the season, able to manage the game better and is more knowledgeable about his personnel. “At the beginning of the year I wasn’t quite as aware as I am now,” he said.
When Jones thinks back about the last couple of years and reviews how much has happened, he is grateful. “It seems like it was a blur and everything. I feel like it has just gone my way and so many doors have been opened up for me, and I am extremely blessed and fortunate.”
This March, instead of competing for championships, Jones is playing for a Timberwolves team with a 20-45 record. What has he learned about losing?
“That I don’t like it,” he answered. “But you can always learn from it and let it make you a better player and person. There’s a lot of lessons that can be brought and taught to you through this game of basketball.”
Worth Noting
Jones’ brother Tre Jones is a sophomore point guard at Apple Valley High School whose college scholarship offers reportedly include Duke, but Tyus said there is no favorite yet. “He’s pretty wide open. His recruiting process is just getting started.”
The Gopher baseball team’s first ever game in the new U.S. Bank Stadium will be Tuesday February 28, 2017, against North Dakota. Minnesota will play North Dakota in the evening, and then again the next night at the covered stadium which can be converted from a football configuration to a baseball setup.
When the Gophers played the first ever baseball game at Target Field in March of 2010, attendance was 36,065. That was a Saturday afternoon, so the Gophers’ week night games against North Dakota are expected to draw smaller crowds.
The next Twins telecast from spring training will be Sunday starting at 12:05 p.m. on Fox Sports North. The Twins will play the Orioles from Fort Myers.
Speculation is three former Gophers from the 2015 team will be chosen in this spring’s NFL Draft. Defensive back Eric Murray might be selected in the third or fourth rounds. Defensive back Briean Boddy-Calhoun and linebacker De’Vondre Campbell seem likely for later rounds.
Murray pointed out after the Gophers Pro Day Monday that prospects can’t demonstrate tackling abilities in tryouts because it’s not allowed. Murray, who had no college offers other than the Gophers, said the NFL was a goal coming out of high school in Milwaukee. “It was definitely a dream. You gotta set a goal somehow. Once you set that, it’s something to reach.”
The Gophers had four players drafted last year, the most since 2006. The four were tight end Maxx Williams, Ravens (second round); linebacker Damien Wilson, Cowboys (fourth round); running back David Cobb, Titans (fifth round); and safety Cedric Thompson, Dolphins (fifth round). The 1950 NFL Draft was the last time Minnesota had four players selected in the first five rounds.
It’s been a rewarding week for former Gophers basketball coach Tubby Smith now in his third season at Texas Tech. Smith was named Big 12 Coach of the Week Sunday and yesterday he was announced as Sporting News National Coach of the Year. It was the eighth time he has won a national coach of the year award. He coached the Red Raiders to a surprising 9-9 record in the Big 12 this season (19-11 overall).
Quoting a Sports Headliners reader who will remain anonymous but marveled at this column’s high praise for former Gophers coach Jerry Kill: “I want you to write my obituary.”
Retired Hall of Fame jockey Chris McCarron will be in town in late April to help Canterbury Park promote the May 7 Kentucky Derby and the return of live racing to the Shakopee racetrack May 20. McCarron, who twice won the Derby, will host a fund raiser for the Leg Up Fund at Canterbury April 26. The fund assists recuperating jockeys injured at Canterbury. The Derby attracts the largest amount of wagering at Canterbury each year.
Bill Davis, the former Gopher baseball and basketball star, played on the Richfield High School team that lost the classic 1960 overtime game to Edgerton in the boys state basketball tournament. Davis will speak to the “Breakfast with Leroy” group Saturday at the Bloomington Knights of Columbus, 1114 American Blvd West. Part of Davis’ presentation will include audio from WCCO Radio describing the final minutes of the game, plus postgame interviews. More information about the presentation including how to attend is available by contacting Pat Rickert at 612-861-3981. Attendees are mostly athletes from the Minneapolis public schools in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s, many of whom went on to college and professional careers.
Former Midwest Sports Channel and Twins executive Kevin Cattoor is Chief Operating Officer for Foodsby, the nation’s largest food logistics delivery service. The Minneapolis-based company partners with office buildings and restaurants to efficiently provide lunchtime meals delivered by the restaurants.