Charles Alexander Jones (born January 12, 1962) is an American former professional

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 (appro ...

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 composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

. Primarily a forward, he played for the

Phoenix Suns The Phoenix Suns are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. The Suns compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NBA), We ...

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 Northwest Division (N ...

, and

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 Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference. The team plays i ...

during his NBA career. Jones was born and raised in

Scooba, Mississippi Scooba is a town in Kemper County, Mississippi, United States. Founded in 1858, the population was 744 as of the 2020 Census. Etymology Scooba is a Choctaw word meaning "reed brake" (i.e., a farming tool used on reeds), and the early settle ...

, 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 university, public research university in Louisville, Kentucky, United States. It is part of the Kentucky state university system. Chartered in 1798 as the Jefferson Seminary, it became in the 19t ...

from 1980 to 1984, appearing in two

Final Four In sports, the final four is the last four teams remaining in a playoffs, playoff tournament. Usually the final four compete in the two games of a single-elimination tournament's semi-final (penultimate) round. Of these teams, the two who win in ...

s 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, Jones was selected in the second round by the

. 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

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

. 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 most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeast, and the 27th-most-populous city in the United States. By land area, it is the country's 24th-largest city; however, by populatio ...

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 P ...

. Following his 2019 retirement from the LMPD, Jones took a position as a security officer with Spalding University, a small

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

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."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Charles 1962 births Living people 20th-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen 21st-century African-American sportsmen 21st-century American sportsmen 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 Spalding Golden Eagles women's basketball coaches Washington Bullets players