Catching up with DeQuan Jones

by Patrick Riley
With 1:34 left in the first quarter of the Summer League contest between the Detroit Pistons and the Orlando Magic, the Magic’s Kevin Anderson used a screen to drive into the painted area. Just a few feet away from the basket he spotted a teammate in the corner, raising his arm to signal that he was open. Without any hesitation Anderson let the ball bounce off the hardwood and into the hands of his teammate who was now running along the baseline and towards the basket.
Here is what transpired next in the words of NBA TV’s Rick Kamla and Dennis Scott:RK: “Nice pa-OHHHH AND THE FLUSH!!!”DS: “Goodness!”RK: “That was a noisy jam by De-Qu-an Jones.”DS: “Welcome to the party, Jones!”
It was day two of Summer League action in Orlando, Fla., and former Miami Hurricane DeQuan Jones had arrived with a bang. But while his dunk led to a lot of oohs and aahs from spectators, teammates and commentators and will probably live on in YouTube-glory forever, Jones didn’t think much of it. Like so many other rookies and undrafted free agents, Jones just hoped to do one thing during this five-games-in-five-days mini-season: prove his worth.
“The experience overall was phenomenal. I just wanted to go out and have fun and prove that I belong,” said Jones in a recent phone interview.
Although the often times physical play of summer league and the many back-to-back games were grueling to a certain extent, Jones was simply grateful to have been given an opportunity, a shot at the big leagues. Just a few weeks ago, after the 60th pick of the 2012 NBA Draft was announced and Jones’ name was nowhere to be heard, things looked much bleaker than they do now.
After working out for the Lakers, Pistons and Bucks in pre-draft workouts and receiving positive feedback at the time, Jones was disappointed to learn that nobody wanted to give him a chance. When his former coaches at UM contacted him a while afterwards, they made it clear to Jones that sometimes not being drafted can be a blessing rather than a detriment.
“The message from our staff to him,” said assistant coach Eric Konkol, “is that sometimes, unless you’re a first-round draft pick where you have a guaranteed contract, when you’re not drafted you’re immediately a free agent. He said it too – he said his phone was ringing off the hook as soon as that 60th pick was announced and it wasn’t him. But, you know, he became recruitable again and it’s worked out pretty well for him to this point. He feels pretty good about his chances.”
While the road to Jones’ ultimate goal, a roster spot on an NBA team, is still a long and winding one, he does have a couple of characteristics, both mentally and physically, that work in his favor.
“He’s got a personality that he can blend in well with people and he’s going to meet people and become friendly with them very quickly. That’s what NBA guys look for,” said Konkol. “They want guys that are going to be good teammates, so he’s made that impression very quickly. Everybody knows how athletic he is and he even said he thinks that he’s impressed people with his athleticism even more.”
Jones’ athleticism has never been doubted by those who have seen him play. But his amicable personality has been only evident to those who have been fortunate enough to meet him and spend time around him.
In Orlando, he quickly made friends with Kyle O’Quinn from Norfolk State and Maalik Wayns from Villanova.
“We [the team] spent mostly the whole day together,” said Jones, “but Maalik and Kyle, we all stayed in our hotels, we were one door down from each other, so we would go in each other’s room and watch TV and talk.”
While O’Quinn and Wayns have since been signed by the Magic and 76ers, respectively, Jones is still waiting for that phone call and possibly an invitation to team up with O’Quinn again at Orlando’s training camp.
But what if things don’t work out?
“I have a lot of confidence that he’s going to be playing basketball some place next year,” said Konkol, “Long after that, I think he’s going to be very successful in whatever he chooses to do. I could see him being a coach. I could see him being a successful businessman. I can see him being a person that just impacts people positively. People that have been around him, they feel good. He has a way around people that makes them feel good.”
One must look no further than Jones’ Twitter account to understand what Konkol is talking about. By scrolling down to an entry from Aug. 5, one will find a picture of school supplies and Jones posing with a single mother and her two daughters to go along with the following:“I remember how hard it was for my mom to get me everything I needed for back to school, so I went in Walmart and found a single mom and offered to buy all her daughters back to school supplies. Was the greatest feeling in the world. Moral of the story, when you’re blessed, be a blessing to someone else.”
It started out as a spontaneous gesture of kindness, but Jones is considering making it into something more.
“I think that will be a tradition. I haven’t come up with a name for it or anything like that, but that’s what it’s looking like.”
This was back home in Atlanta where Jones continues to work out.
Staying sharp. Always improving. Waiting for that call.
And while right now there are a lot of moving parts and uncertainties regarding Jones’ career as a professional basketball player, one thing can be said for sure: He will never forget where he came from and he will never stop impacting others positively.