Charles Jones (basketball, born 1962)

Last updated

Charles Jones
Charles Jones Louisville.jpg
Jones with the Louisville Cardinals
Personal information
Born (1962-01-12) January 12, 1962 (age 62)
Scooba, Mississippi, U.S.
Listed height6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)
Listed weight215 lb (98 kg)
Career information
High schoolEast Kemper (Scooba, Mississippi)
College Louisville (1980–1984)
NBA draft 1984: 2nd round, 36th overall pick
Selected by the Phoenix Suns
Playing career1984–1991
Position Power forward
Number34, 8, 51
Career history
As player:
1984–1986 Phoenix Suns
1987–1988 Portland Trail Blazers
1988–1989 Washington Bullets
1989–1990 Viola Reggio Calabria
1990–1991 Kleenex Pistoia
As coach:
2020–present Spalding (women's assistant)
Stats at NBA.com  OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
Stats at Basketball Reference  OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg

Charles Alexander Jones (born January 12, 1962) is a retired American basketball player and current college basketball coach who played for four seasons in the National Basketball Association. Primarily a forward, he played for the Phoenix Suns, the Portland Trail Blazers, and the Washington Bullets during his NBA career.

Jones was born and raised in Scooba, Mississippi, where he attended East Kemper High School. [1] An outstanding leaper, Jones still holds the rebound record for the Mississippi High School All-Star Game. He grabbed 29 rebounds in the 1980 Mississippi All-Star contest. Jones went on to the University of Louisville from 1980 to 1984, appearing in two Final Fours with the school during his career. [2] He was named the most valuable player in the 1982 Mid-East Regional of the NCAA Tournament held in Birmingham, Alabama. He averaged over eleven points and nearly ten rebounds in his senior year. [3]

In the 1984 NBA draft, Jones was selected in the second round by the Phoenix Suns. [4] As a rookie, he appeared in 78 games, starting 14 of them, while averaging nearly eight-and-a-half points and over five rebounds per game. [1] In his second season, he played in only 43 games, while starting 18 of them, in a season which saw his per-game numbers go down. After the season, he was released by Phoenix. [1]

After not being on a roster during most of the 1986–87 NBA season, Jones was signed to a contract by the Portland Trail Blazers [1] with two games remaining in their season. [5] He did not make an appearance with the Blazers during those final two games, nor during the postseason. He remained on the Blazers' roster for the 1987–88 season, but appeared sparingly, averaging only five minutes per game. At the end of the season, Portland released Jones. [1]

In October 1988, Jones signed a contract with the Washington Bullets. [1] To avoid confusion with the Bullets' starting center also named Charles Jones, he was known as Charles A. Jones while in Washington. [6] He was waived at the end of the preseason, but was re-signed in December. [6] As a Bullet, he appeared in 43 games, [7] primarily serving as the team's 12th man. [8] After a season in Washington, he went to Europe and played two seasons of basketball in Italy before retiring from the sport. [9]

After retiring from basketball, Jones moved to the Louisville area and became an officer with the Louisville Metro Police Department. [10]

Following his 2019 retirement from the LMPD, Jones took a position as a security officer with Spalding University, a small Catholic school in Louisville. In 2020, he took a second position as an assistant coach of Spalding's women's basketball team. According to a 2021 story published by local TV station WDRB, Jones was recruited "not so subtly" by newly hired Spalding head coach Kylee Gorby, who recalled telling Jones, "I came over there one day with some women’s basketball gear and some paperwork and I said, 'Hey, no pressure at all, but these shirts are yours regardless, and here’s the paperwork.'" Jones himself told WDRB, "I think ... probably after the 10th or 12th time (she asked), I said, I’ll do it." He would add in the interview, "The game has changed. It’s not the same game that I played, especially playing at the level I played. I’m not saying this is not a good level. It’s just different. I had been away from it for awhile, so it took a little getting used to being out there. But I enjoy it." [11]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Charles Jones NBA & ABA Statistics". Basketball-Reference. Retrieved May 9, 2010.
  2. ↑ "Louisville Cardinals Index". SR/College Basketball. Sports Reference, LLC. Retrieved May 9, 2010.
  3. ↑ "Charles Jones Statistics". SR/College Basketball. Sports Reference, LLC. Retrieved May 9, 2010.
  4. ↑ "1984 NBA Draft". Basketball-Reference. Retrieved May 9, 2010.
  5. ↑ "1986–87 Portland Trail Blazers Schedule and Results". Basketball-Reference. Retrieved May 9, 2010.
  6. 1 2 Aldridge, David (December 3, 1988). "King, Bullets Drive Hard, Fall Short; Pistons Hold On, 120-114". The Washington Post . Archived from the original on November 4, 2012.
  7. ↑ "1988–89 Washington Bullets Roster and Statistics". Basketball-Reference. Retrieved May 9, 2010.
  8. ↑ Justice, Richard (January 11, 1989). "Jones, Bullets Pound Boards, Nuggets". The Washington Post . Archived from the original on November 4, 2012.
  9. ↑ "Legabasket – Charles Jones". Lega Basket Serie A. Archived from the original on July 4, 2011. Retrieved May 10, 2010.
  10. ↑ "Louisville PAL Officers". Louisville Police Athletic League, Inc. Archived from the original on February 11, 2010. Retrieved May 9, 2010.
  11. ↑ Lewis, John (March 4, 2021). "Former U of L star Charles Jones back on the court, this time as an assistant at Spalding". WDRB. Retrieved April 24, 2021.
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