Everyone in the Colonial Center on Jan. 27, 2008, knew the ball was going to Jordan Jones with one second left.
“I love the pressure situations,” Jones said.
She got open two steps behind the three-point line and let the ball go.
Swish.
Unfortunately for Jones and the South Carolina Gamecocks, time expired before the ball left her hand. Florida won 60-57.
“We knew we were inheriting a kid that could hit the game shot,” UF assistant coach Brenda Kirkpatrick said.
Fast forward to the present. UF will host Stetson tomorrow to open its 2009-2010 season.
In addition to four incoming freshmen, one more new player will be donning orange and blue: Jones.
The Gamecock turned Gator transferred from USC in the summer after her freshman season in Columbia, S.C.
She didn’t go far, making the 6-hour trip south to Gainesville to stay in the Southeastern Conference.
“I think that’s the toughest conference in basketball,” Jones said.
Because of NCAA rules regarding transfers, Jones had to sit out last season. It was a trying ordeal for her, physically and even more so mentally.
“It’s almost like every day blended together because every day I would come in, I’d go to practice, then I’d leave and get home and there was nothing really to look forward to,” Jones said.
BIRTHING COMPETITIVENESS
Growing up, Jones competed with her brother Tanner, now 18, in just about everything. And it’s not hard to see where that competitive spirit came from.
“Everyone likes to win a lot in our family,” Jordan and Tanner’s mother, Angela Jones, said. “You either get good at it, or you’re real unhappy for a while because someone beats you.”
The pairing competed in everything: basketball, baseball, Monopoly, checkers, video games. If one was crossing the street, the other might walk a bit faster. Then the other would walk faster, until walking turned into sprinting.
Anything the two could find a way to compete in, they did.
“My mom always said I would quit if I wasn’t winning,” Jones said. “I don’t think I’ll ever admit that he can beat me in something. Maybe he had his lucky days.”
Jones remembered living on a cul-de-sac, playing basketball with Tanner until the front light of the house came on which meant it was time to come inside.
And though Jones’ eventual claim to fame would be basketball — she averaged 14 points per game for the No. 1 high school basketball team in the nation her senior year at Collins High School — her first sport was softball, which she started playing at the age of 2.
By the age of 11, Jones was the pitcher on Tanner’s baseball team.
So when Jones showed interest in basketball in sixth grade, it came as a surprise to her mother.
It was evident Jones had some innate basketball talent. By the end of her sixth grade year, she was the leading scorer on the team.
“I’m always amazed at her desire to be as good as she can be,” Angela said.
FRESHMAN THIRTEEN
Emerging from the high school basketball scene as the 50th best player in the nation, according to Sports Illustrated and Rise Magazine, it may have been no surprise that Jones landed in the SEC, one of the toughest conferences — if not the toughest — in women’s college basketball.
She signed as a Gamecock under then-head-coach Susan Walvius. Rather than being ushered in slowly, Jones was thrust into a starting role at USC against stiff SEC competition.
“I really wasn’t sure if I belonged,” she said.
A shooter by nature, she was asked to play the point, something she hated at first and did only because it was demanded of her.
It didn’t prevent Jones from making an impact.
In her freshman year, she led the Gamecocks in scoring, netting 13.1 points — ninth among all SEC players.
With an ability to shoot it from deep range, she led the SEC and was third in the country with 3.03 three-pointers per game.
The Gamecocks ended the season 16-16 and on April 14, 2008, it was announced that Walvius resigned effective May 31.
Jones admitted the decision upset her because of the rapport she had established with Walvius.
Her initial inclination was to leave, but after her mom calmed her down a bit, she decided to do research on other possibilities.
“Honestly, when you’re in the recruiting process, (the coach is) who you build a relationship with,” Jones said. “You go to a school and you really want to play for that coach. That was the hardest thing. They brought in a new coach.”
Looking back, Jones said the coaching change was a blessing in disguise because it led her to Gainesville.
Jones lined up visits to UF, Kentucky, Auburn and Georgia.
Her mind was made up after she attended a Gators softball game during the 2008 Women’s College World Series run.
“This was the only visit I had to take,” Jones said.
She did it again. She was drawn to a coach.
Amanda Butler.
“I just can’t imagine anyone not wanting to play for coach Butler,” Jones said.
ANNO PRACTICUM
With a new school in front of her and USC behind her, Jones arrived in Gainesville part seasoned sophomore, part baby-faced freshman.
“I carried around a campus map for the first two months I was here,” Jones said.
Butler said dealing with the newness factor is one of the hardest aspects of transferring, getting acclimated even though she had already been in college one year.
Jones’ lost sense of direction paled in comparison, though, to the helplessness she felt sitting out for an entire year.
“No matter how ready you think you are, sitting out for an entire season takes a mental toll,” Butler said.
The coaching staff tries to keep players sitting out engaged and challenged but admitted it is hard making inactive players feel as special as those playing in games.
“That is tough, sitting out,” Kirkpatrick said. “It’s hard to feel like you’re contributing because most kids gauge their contributions on what they’re doing in the games.”
It was especially hard on Jones when the Gators were losing because she was forced to watch, powerless to help.
Playing sports since she was in elementary school, the 601 days between Jones’ last organized college basketball game and the Stetson game marks the longest stretch she hasn’t put on a jersey for a meaningful game.
During that year off, she set goals for herself in practice such as scoring a certain amount of points, or being more aggressive and driving to the rim more. But it hardly softened the blow of not being able to play.
“Every single day, bringing 100-percent effort — that was the hardest thing, knowing that I didn’t have a game to look forward to or playing time to earn,” Jones said.
She didn’t regret transferring but questioned whether or not she could stick it out. She knew she would be able to hone her skills with a whole year off, but she didn’t realize how hard it would be.
One of her teammates, Susan Yenser, knew how tough it was.
A transfer from Clemson, Yenser decided she needed a change of scenery after two years. She sat out Butler’s inaugural year at UF, 2007-2008.
“I know that there’s some days when you walk in the locker room and you’re just like ‘Man, it doesn’t really matter what I do today,’” Yenser said. “I definitely felt for J.J., and I would try to pick her up.”
Jones leaned on Yenser as the older mentor. The two had lunches where Yenser would check on Jones to see how she was coping with her year off.
And though it may have been hard to appreciate at the moment, Jones was reaping the rewards of practicing for a whole year without any pressure.
Indeed, she pointed out several facets of her game that had improved including her 3-point shot off the dribble, her ball handling and her ability as a scorer.
She’s also grown accustomed to, and now embraces, the point guard position she dreaded at USC.
Defense, too. Playing last year on the scout team, Jones got all the exposure to defense she could have wanted.
“When this year came, I didn’t want to look back on last year and say ‘Wow. I sat out all of last year and it was a waste — that I didn’t get better,’” Jones said.
She doesn’t think that now. Her expectations this year are huge, and last year only fed her ever-growing anticipation for this season.
“I feel like I’m a completely different player than I was my freshman year at South Carolina,” she said. “Last year was an overall success.”
