Teven Jones hopes to find happiness at Appalachian State
http://www.dailyprogress.com/cavalierin ... f6878.html
Posted: Wednesday, May 7, 2014 9:20 pm
By Whitey Reid
Teven Jones’ mother wanted him to stay at Virginia and earn his degree, whether his playing time for coach Tony Bennett’s team was guaranteed or not. But in the end, Jones said he had to do what would make him happy.
The former Cavalier point guard hopes playing at Appalachian State will do just that.
Over the weekend, Jones — who had announced his intention to transfer last month — picked the Mountaineers over a host of schools, including UNC Greensboro, Northern Arizona, North Carolina Central, Marshall and Coastal Carolina.
Jones told the Daily Progress that his mother, Tyra, definitely needed some convincing.
“She wanted me to stay [at Virginia] because of the academics and she felt like I could play next year,” Jones said. “But coach and me had a meeting and he was straightforward. Coach Bennett is a great guy. I respect him a lot...
“UVa is so prestigious and that degree means a lot, so of course I thought about that, but at the same time, without happiness it was going to be hard to [concentrate] on basketball and school because my mind was already on a lot of stuff. My happiness has to come first, and that’s why I made my decision. You’ve got to be happy in life with where you’re at.”
Appalachian State is coached by former Davidson assistant coach Jim Fox, who took over for the fired Jason Capel on April 8. Jones said that one of the allures of playing for Fox was his experience working with former Davidson guard Stephen Curry, now an NBA All-Star.
“It’s a good system for me.” Jones said. “Coach Fox told me it’s up-tempo and he wanted me to come in and take over and be aggressive and play my game. That’s what I’ve been looking forward to the whole time.”
Jones believes that Appalachian State offers him the best chance to achieve his lifelong dream of playing professionally.
“I’m going to play professional basketball for a long time, no matter what anybody says,” Jones said. “I’m in the gym working every day and it’s going to show.”
After Jones committed to Appalachian State, he received a congratulatory message from Donte Minter, a former Virginia and Appalachian State player. Wahoo fans still cringe about the game in 2006 when Minter led the Mountaineers to a win over UVa and former coach Dave Leitao in Puerto Rico.
“He said he heard about me going to State and that he loved it there,” Jones said. “He said he loved UVa too, but basketball-wise he thought he made a good decision [to transfer].”
Since he enrolled at Virginia for the second semester during the 2011-12 season — something he volunteered to do because Virginia barely had enough players to practice — Jones said he has been told by the NCAA that he only has 1.5 years of eligibility remaining.
However, Jones, citing an ill grandmother, has applied for a waiver that would give him two full years.
In retrospect, he said the choice to come to Virginia early from Fishburne Military Academy might not have been the best move.
“I don’t regret it,” Jones said, “but I feel like I could have thought on it more with that decision. But I don’t regret it all because I feel like everything happens for a reason.”
Jones said he also has no regrets about staying last season when the writing seemed on the wall that he wasn’t going to be in the rotation due to the presence of freshmen guards London Perrantes and Devon Hall.
“I wanted to stay because I felt like we had something special,” he said, “and I felt like I would play a lot because of the way I had performed in preseason and all summer and in practices. But that’s not how it panned out.
“At first, when they recruited [Perrantes and Hall], I was like, ‘Why would they recruit over me?’ but then I thought about it like, ‘Anywhere I go there’s going to be a competition,’ so I couldn’t be mad at that. I wasn’t running away from competition.”
Perrantes wound up earning the starting point guard job, Hall redshirted, and Jones, for the most part, was a third-stringer, behind Perrantes and Malcolm Brogdon.
Jones, though, never sulked. His cheering and creative dance moves on the sideline are lasting images from Virginia’s run to the Sweet 16.
Jones said one of his best memories from his time at UVa came when the Cavs beat North Carolina his freshman year. Another was his dunk against Virginia Tech this past season.
On his last night in town, teammate Justin Anderson and women’s tennis player Maci Epstein blindfolded Jones, put him in a car and took him to a surprise party where all of his teammates were waiting.
“It’s really tough because I built relationships with a lot of people,” Jones said.
Jones said he’ll miss everyone.
“Thanks to all the fans for all their support,” he said. “Keep cheering hard and going crazy at JPJ. Keep JPJ rocking.”