Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
Jones already showing benefits of redshirt year
11/14/2019 3:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — At 3-0, Middle Tennessee is off to its best start on the hardwood since the 2013-14 season.
It's likely the Blue Raiders wouldn't have even been 2-0 without a junior who didn't even lace up his game shoes a single time last year.
Against the Lipscomb Bisons on the road, MT found itself in a duel and needing someone to step up. The Raiders had led by as many as nine in the second half, but allowed Lipscomb to claw its way back and eventually take a three-point lead with 4:33 left on the clock.
The Bisons' lead lasted nearly two minutes, when, with 2:51 remaining, junior C.J. Jones had his first big moment in the blue and white.
He took a couple of dribbles to his left, getting inside the 3-point arc, and rose for a midrange jumper. As he released the shot, he was fouled on the arm, yet still sank it and went to the line, where he calmly knocked down the and-one to tie the game and end his team's scoreless streak of more than five minutes.
Then, after both teams hit 3-pointers to again knot the score, Lipscomb inched ahead with a bucket, taking a two-point lead with 39 seconds left. Things looked dire for the Blue Raiders.
That's when Jones came around a screen at the top of the key. He was hit with a sharp chest pass, turned toward the basket on the fly and unloaded a dagger three. The line drive was nothing but net, giving Middle Tennessee a one-point lead it wouldn't squander.
For good measure, Jones then got his hand on a Bison pass on the last possession to ice the game on the defensive end. He ended with 23 points on 8-of-13 shooting, including 6 for 10 from 3-point range, and tied the team high with six rebounds.
The breakout was a long time coming for Jones, who transferred last year from Arkansas and had to sit out the season due to NCAA transfer rules.
"The redshirt year helped me mature more as a player and a person," he said. "I got a chance to look back at old film from when I was at Arkansas and look at ways I can grow as a player."
It was the type of performance Blue Raiders head coach Nick McDevitt was hoping to see from Jones early in the season.
"[The redshirt] gave him a chance to learn our system, but not on the fly," McDevitt said. "He's really gotten a grasp of what we do on both sides of the ball … and it allowed him to bring more of an impact to our team early on this season.
"He's one of those guys that has an easy stroke and just doesn't look like he's working hard to shoot it, even when he's shooting it from deep. You have to have grown up in a gym to do those things."
Jones has an effortless shot that's come from years of being a gym rat.
Growing up, he and his half-brother, Colby Jones, a four-star 2020 recruit committed to Xavier, were constantly in the gym in their hometown of Birmingham, Alabama.
"He's my half-brother, so we were in two different households," C.J. Jones said. "On the weekends, I would go pick him up and we'd go to the gym. It was always just me and him going into the gym and working on our game … we used to watch film on YouTube and see different types of workouts we could do. That was great, man."
While it was tough sitting out last season, Jones knew he came to Middle Tennessee for a reason.
McDevitt, now in his second year as MT's head man, runs a system that demands players be smart with the ball and versatile offensively. When worked to perfection, it can be lethal and put points on the board in a hurry because there are shooters all around the floor looking for open space.
"The coaching staff understood where I was coming from and why I wanted to come here," Jones said. "They said they were going to make sure to get me where I wanted to be … and it just worked out for all of us.
"Coach McDevitt told me when he first recruited me that he liked guys who could shoot it, and I told him I liked coaches who liked guys who like to shoot it. We clicked from right there."
Jones, standing at 6-foot-5, has proven through three games to be quite the one-two punch with fellow guard Antonio Green. The two are averaging a combined 45 points per game while shooting 53% from the field and 49% from 3-point range.
Green, who had to sit out the 2017-18 season after transferring to Middle Tennessee, was a vital piece in helping Jones through his own redshirt year.
"He's been setting a great example for all of us," Jones said. "He told me to just take the redshirt day-by-day, and now it's finally here. It seems like it was just yesterday I was starting my redshirt and sitting out."
Jones has hit the ground running this season for the Blue Raiders, and Conference USA better be paying attention. He's only going to get better the more he's on the floor — a scary thought for league opponents come January.
For all the latest information on Middle Tennessee Men's Basketball, follow the #BlueRaiders on Facebook (@MTMensBasketball), Twitter (@MT_MBB) and Instagram (MT_MBB).
It's likely the Blue Raiders wouldn't have even been 2-0 without a junior who didn't even lace up his game shoes a single time last year.
Against the Lipscomb Bisons on the road, MT found itself in a duel and needing someone to step up. The Raiders had led by as many as nine in the second half, but allowed Lipscomb to claw its way back and eventually take a three-point lead with 4:33 left on the clock.
The Bisons' lead lasted nearly two minutes, when, with 2:51 remaining, junior C.J. Jones had his first big moment in the blue and white.
He took a couple of dribbles to his left, getting inside the 3-point arc, and rose for a midrange jumper. As he released the shot, he was fouled on the arm, yet still sank it and went to the line, where he calmly knocked down the and-one to tie the game and end his team's scoreless streak of more than five minutes.
Then, after both teams hit 3-pointers to again knot the score, Lipscomb inched ahead with a bucket, taking a two-point lead with 39 seconds left. Things looked dire for the Blue Raiders.
That's when Jones came around a screen at the top of the key. He was hit with a sharp chest pass, turned toward the basket on the fly and unloaded a dagger three. The line drive was nothing but net, giving Middle Tennessee a one-point lead it wouldn't squander.
For good measure, Jones then got his hand on a Bison pass on the last possession to ice the game on the defensive end. He ended with 23 points on 8-of-13 shooting, including 6 for 10 from 3-point range, and tied the team high with six rebounds.
The breakout was a long time coming for Jones, who transferred last year from Arkansas and had to sit out the season due to NCAA transfer rules.
"The redshirt year helped me mature more as a player and a person," he said. "I got a chance to look back at old film from when I was at Arkansas and look at ways I can grow as a player."
It was the type of performance Blue Raiders head coach Nick McDevitt was hoping to see from Jones early in the season.
"[The redshirt] gave him a chance to learn our system, but not on the fly," McDevitt said. "He's really gotten a grasp of what we do on both sides of the ball … and it allowed him to bring more of an impact to our team early on this season.
"He's one of those guys that has an easy stroke and just doesn't look like he's working hard to shoot it, even when he's shooting it from deep. You have to have grown up in a gym to do those things."
Jones has an effortless shot that's come from years of being a gym rat.
Growing up, he and his half-brother, Colby Jones, a four-star 2020 recruit committed to Xavier, were constantly in the gym in their hometown of Birmingham, Alabama.
"He's my half-brother, so we were in two different households," C.J. Jones said. "On the weekends, I would go pick him up and we'd go to the gym. It was always just me and him going into the gym and working on our game … we used to watch film on YouTube and see different types of workouts we could do. That was great, man."
While it was tough sitting out last season, Jones knew he came to Middle Tennessee for a reason.
McDevitt, now in his second year as MT's head man, runs a system that demands players be smart with the ball and versatile offensively. When worked to perfection, it can be lethal and put points on the board in a hurry because there are shooters all around the floor looking for open space.
"The coaching staff understood where I was coming from and why I wanted to come here," Jones said. "They said they were going to make sure to get me where I wanted to be … and it just worked out for all of us.
"Coach McDevitt told me when he first recruited me that he liked guys who could shoot it, and I told him I liked coaches who liked guys who like to shoot it. We clicked from right there."
Jones, standing at 6-foot-5, has proven through three games to be quite the one-two punch with fellow guard Antonio Green. The two are averaging a combined 45 points per game while shooting 53% from the field and 49% from 3-point range.
Green, who had to sit out the 2017-18 season after transferring to Middle Tennessee, was a vital piece in helping Jones through his own redshirt year.
"He's been setting a great example for all of us," Jones said. "He told me to just take the redshirt day-by-day, and now it's finally here. It seems like it was just yesterday I was starting my redshirt and sitting out."
Jones has hit the ground running this season for the Blue Raiders, and Conference USA better be paying attention. He's only going to get better the more he's on the floor — a scary thought for league opponents come January.
For all the latest information on Middle Tennessee Men's Basketball, follow the #BlueRaiders on Facebook (@MTMensBasketball), Twitter (@MT_MBB) and Instagram (MT_MBB).
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