Charles Jones (basketball, born 1962)
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Charles Alexander Jones (born January 12, 1962) is a retired American
basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...
player and current college basketball coach who played for four seasons in the
National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United S ...
. Primarily a forward, he played for the
Phoenix Suns The Phoenix Suns are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. They compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Suns are the only team in t ...
, the
Portland Trail Blazers The Portland Trail Blazers (colloquially known as the Blazers) are an American professional basketball team based in Portland, Oregon. The Trail Blazers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Con ...
, and the
Washington Bullets The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The team plays ...
during his NBA career. Jones was born and raised in
Scooba, Mississippi ("Reed brake") , leader_title = , leader_name = , leader_title1 = , leader_name1 = , established_title = , established_date = , unit_pref = Imperial , area_footno ...
, where he attended East Kemper High School. 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 The University of Louisville (UofL) is a public research university in Louisville, Kentucky. It is part of the Kentucky state university system. When founded in 1798, it was the first city-owned public university in the United States and one of ...
from 1980 to 1984, appearing in two Final Fours with the school during his career. 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. In the
1984 NBA draft The 1984 NBA draft was the 37th annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). It was held at the Felt Forum at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York, on June 19, 1984, before the 1984–85 season. The draft is generally c ...
, Jones was selected in the second round by the
Phoenix Suns The Phoenix Suns are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. They compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Suns are the only team in t ...
. 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. 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. 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 The Portland Trail Blazers (colloquially known as the Blazers) are an American professional basketball team based in Portland, Oregon. The Trail Blazers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Con ...
with two games remaining in their season. 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. In October 1988, Jones signed a contract with the
Washington Bullets The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The team plays ...
. To avoid confusion with the Bullets' starting center also named Charles Jones, he was known as Charles A. Jones while in Washington. He was waived at the end of the preseason, but was re-signed in December. As a Bullet, he appeared in 43 games, primarily serving as the team's 12th man. After a season in Washington, he went to Europe and played two seasons of basketball in Italy before retiring from the sport. After retiring from basketball, Jones moved to the
Louisville Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...
area and became an officer with the
Louisville Metro Police Department The Louisville Metro Police Department (LMPD) began operations on January 6, 2003, as part of the creation of the consolidated city-county government in Louisville, Kentucky, United States. It was formed by the merger of the Jefferson County Pol ...
. Following his 2019 retirement from the LMPD, Jones took a position as a security officer with
Spalding University Spalding University is a private Catholic university in Louisville, Kentucky. It is affiliated with the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth. History Spalding University traces its origins to Nazareth Academy, one of the oldest educational instituti ...
, a small
Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
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 WDRB (channel 41) is a television station in Louisville, Kentucky, United States, affiliated with the Fox network. It is owned by Block Communications alongside Salem, Indiana–licensed dual CW/ MyNetworkTV affiliate WBKI (channel 58). Both ...
, 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.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Charles 1962 births Living people African-American basketball players American expatriate basketball people in Italy American men's basketball players Basketball players from Mississippi Louisville Cardinals men's basketball players Louisville Metro Police Department officers Olimpia Basket Pistoia players People from Kemper County, Mississippi Phoenix Suns draft picks Phoenix Suns players Portland Trail Blazers players Power forwards (basketball) Spalding Golden Eagles women's basketball coaches Washington Bullets players 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American sportspeople