Jones Has Enjoyed The Butler Journey

Georgetown coach John Thompson III was asked recently what he thought of Butler senior Roosevelt Jones, he of the unorthodox moves, unconventional shots and uncanny knack for confounding opponents both in and out of the BIG EAST.Thompson, with tongue planted firmly in cheek said, “Let me be honest about Roosevelt Jones. I wish he was in another league.”Thompson then went on to rave about Jones, even revealing he even coaxed his own son to watch and learn from tapes of Jones.“He is, as a basketball fan, one of the most fun players in the country for me to watch,” Thompson said. “I love watching that kid play. This is a true story. I sat down with my son in the ninth grade watching Roosevelt Jones clips and I said, ‘Try to do what this kid does.’ For someone who you want to pick apart what he can’t do and say he’s not that athletic and he can’t shoot past a such and such point on the court, you overlook what a force he is. I love watching him play.”There were many, according to Jones, who did pick him apart as he approached his college career. There weren’t many lovers of his game which is why Jones will always be devoted to Butler.“I never heard that story before about Coach Thompson but I appreciate that from him,” said Jones, who is averaging 13.9 points for the Bulldogs along with team-bests in rebounds (6.9) and assists (4.7). “I’m glad coaches respect my game and the way that I play. After our game with Creighton (on Feb. 16) (Creighton) Coach (Greg) McDermott told me he appreciated the class I played with and that he was glad that he had the opportunity to compete against me in the BIG EAST the last two years. I’m really grateful and appreciative for that because before I came to college, people doubted me and didn’t think I’d ever have an impact on the Division I level. Now to see that people are noticing me and appreciating the way that I play with my own style and the way I go about things, I’m very grateful for it.”And all Jones has done in his career at Butler is steadily climb up the pages of the school’s basketball record book. With three games remaining in the regular season before the BIG EAST Tournament, Jones is sitting in 14place on the school’s all-time scoring list with 1,453 points. He is also currently occupying the fifth spot on both the rebounding list (781) and assists list (438).Not too shabby for a guy who some thought was not Division I worthy.“Butler was the perfect fit for me,” said Jones, who scored 16 points and grabbed five rebounds in Butler’s narrow loss at Villanova last Saturday. “If I went anywhere else I probably wouldn’t have had this kind of career so I’m just thankful Butler gave me the opportunity because lots of college coaches were telling me that they didn’t think I was a Division I player. I feel I’ve had a good five years here. Even the year I was out (Jones sat out the 2013-14 season with a broken wrist) I still learned the game, learned different ways to try and score and see how tough the BIG EAST was before I actually had to start playing in it.”This season has also been a year of firsts for Jones. He hit the first three-pointer of his career on a half-court heave at the end of the first half at Marquette on Jan. 30 and also produced the school’s first triple-double in 32 years when he logged 10 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists in a win vs. St. John’s on Feb. 6.And yes, Jones is still kind of living off those magical moments almost a month since they occurred.“When it three-point shot first happened everybody was texting me and calling me about it, that I finally knocked one down,” Jones said laughing. “And now everybody is asking me when I’m going to make my next one.”And the triple-double, the first by a Bulldog players since Tim McRoberts did the trick vs. Oral Roberts on Feb. 20, 1984?“I actually didn’t even realize I was that close to getting the triple-double. But the game just kept coming to me and I started getting rebounds and hitting my teammates for wide open threes for assists and the game was just flowing,” said Jones, who also has eight double-doubles this season. “Then one of our assistant coaches showed me the stat sheet and I saw I had eight assists in the first half and I was like, ‘Wow, I didn’t know that.’ Then I saw I had seven rebounds, too, so I knew I was getting close to it. So in the second half I kind of knew what I needed to do and I finally got the last assist on an alley-oop to Jackson Davis. That’s something I’ll always remember.”As Butler head coach Chris Holtmann has a front row seat to watching Jones work night in and night out and says one word best describes the senior’s game.“His competitiveness really allows him to impact the game offensively and defensively,” Holtmann said. “I think that’s what good players do, they find a way to impact the game offensively and defensively. Roosevelt has really done that his entire career. He just finds a way to make impactful plays, positive impactful plays for his team. I think Roosevelt just has a special way about him as a player and as a person. He’s a fun kid to be around. With Roosevelt, when the game is at its most competitive, he’s at his best. I think his greatest strength has always been his will and his competitiveness.”There’s another BIG EAST coach who has also become a fan of Jones’ the past two seasons.“He’s got a very unique game. I really admire the way he plays,” Marquette coach Steve Wojciechowski said. “His ball skills and his IQ along with his size and his strength make him a very difficult matchup.”Jones knows his time is growing short at Butler and when asked to reflect on some of his career highlights, two jump to mind.“My sophomore year we beat IU (Indiana University) when they were ranked No. 1 in the country so that was really fun and we made it to the (NCAA) tournament,” Jones said. “And I made the game-winning shot against Gonzaga, too, (in January 2013) and that’s what actually changed my whole career at Butler after that shot.”But there’s two things left on Jones’ To-Do List before he calls it a career – enjoying his last two games at Hinkle FIeldhouse and getting the Bulldogs back to the NCAA Tournament one last time.“I’m just trying to help my team by doing anything I can to get us to the NCAA Tournament,” Jones said. “Last year I thought we had a pretty good team. I thought we should have made it to the Sweet 16, but Notre Dame got us in overtime. It would mean a lot to me to reach the NCAA Tournament in my last year because I’ve seen the two times I’ve made it how fun it’s been. The atmosphere and the fans and how fun it is to play in the tournament is crazy and so much fun so I’d like to get back there one more time and go as far as we can in the tournament.And playing at Hinkle, I’m going to miss it a lot,” Jones continued. “It’s going to be crazy. I have two games left there but on Senior Night (March 5) I’m going to have a lot of emotion because those fans have meant a lot to me and the support they’ve given us over the years. It’s going to be very emotional when we play Marquette on Senior Night.”