Chris Jones is the type of basketball player that makes everything look easy. He can penetrate to the basket at will for points, he finds his teammates with passes through lanes that didn't appear to exist and he steals the ball out of the opponent's hands like he's competing against school kids. On one in-bound play he'll throw a perfect alley-oop to a teammate for a dunk and on the next he tosses the ball off an unsuspecting opponent's back, picks it up, hits a contested layup and then strolls to the free-throw line where he swishes the shot for a three-point play.

Anyone who knows the game of basketball knows none of that comes easy though. And anyone who knows Jones knows that his path to this point of his life wasn't easy either.

"Chris Jones is a winner," Angelo State head coach Chris Beard said. "He is one of the most humble, unselfish people and best teammates I've ever coached. Obviously he is a special basketball player, but along with being very talented, he works very hard at his game and is a team player. He wants to be coached hard daily, and he is tough both physically and mentally. Chris is a simple guy in a lot of ways. He loves his family, he loves basketball, and he approaches his academics with a maturity and a desire to earn his degree."

Born to LaTonya McCoy and a father who has never been around, Jones is a senior on the Angelo State basketball team playing for the Rams after transferring from the University of North Texas where he played for three seasons. Jones, who has a brother in eighth grade and a sister who is in first, sees himself essentially as their father and has felt responsible for helping his family survive for as long as he can remember. He is motivated by his mother, his siblings, his grandmother and his cousins to not let adversity overcome his potential that can take him places few from his background ever get to.

Tough times pass. Tough people last.  

"I do feel some pressure because my family looks up to me in that way," Jones said. "I don't have much that I can give them financially, but I can show them how to be a good person and how to go for your dreams. I encourage my mom when she's struggling and try to help my brother and sister on a daily basis and feel like I'm their father. They are everything to me and I'm never going to let them down or let them feel alone."

Jones was an only child for a long time with the gap in age-difference with his siblings and he remembers growing up in Dallas with it just being him and his mom taking on the world. He unconsciously pauses at times talking about what she did for him, making you fully aware that the cheers he now hears on the court were at one time unimaginable to him.

"I'm proud of my mom beyond words for everything she did for me and is doing for my brother and sister," Jones said. "My dad was never around, but she was a great role model and was always there for me. She motivates me and showed me that even though there was not was not a father figure in the house, that we were a strong family and were going to make it. I don't know how she did it, but she has always come through for our family. She was by herself raising a family, but she always had food on the table and made sure the bills were paid. I can only remember one time in my life when the lights were shut off, but that is it."

Jones is building a large fan-base in San Angelo with his play on the court, but his most loyal admirer remains his mother who has always believed in him. She was there when he was an aspiring football player in middle school and in the stands when he switched to basketball in high school. She was there when he graduated high school and when he signed a Division I scholarship. She cheered for him at UNT and supported him when he decided to transfer. She's the type of mom that makes raising a family look easy, even when you know it isn't.

"I'm very proud of the man that Chris has become," LaTonya McCoy said. "He's stayed out of trouble and has always been driven to be the best person he can be. My mom used to always tell me that if you don't work, you're not going to eat. If you want things out of life, you have to work for them. That's how Chris grew up too. With our situation there was nothing given to him. We had some struggles along the way, but I always knew Chris believed in me and would help me as much as he could."

Jones arrived at Angelo State with one year of eligibility remaining after playing his first three collegiate seasons at UNT. A star recruit, Jones developed a strong relationship with UNT assistant coach Shawn Forrest and chose to stay in the Dallas-area despite multiple offers to play at other universities. He thrived at UNT and ranks third all-time in its program's history with 127 steals and is sixth all-time with 282 career assists. Jones, who had eight assists in his first game as freshman against St. Gregory's and then scored 31 points against Texas Tech in his second game, led his team with 81 assists and established a program freshman-record with 4.26 assists per game. As a sophomore, despite suffering a broken foot and missing part of the season, Jones had 46 assists, 34 steals and averaged 9.2 points per game in 14 games played. Last season, as a junior, he flourished from the point guard position by leading UNT with 127 assists and 48 steals. He had a season-high eight assists last season at Marshall and a season-best 16 points at Oklahoma. Averaging 4.1 assists per game during his junior season, Jones ranked fourth in Conference USA.

"I had a great time at the University of North Texas and we did some great things there," Jones said.  "I wasn't progressing as much as I wanted to be during my time there and I wanted a change."

Despite his success at UNT, Jones desired progression and started exploring options. He leaned on former teammates and coaches for advice about which programs he would fit best at. A coach's name and school which kept coming up was Angelo State and its head coach Chris Beard. Connections came with Jones' former assistant high school coach J.T. Locklear who coached with Beard at Fort Scott Community College and Seminole State and his high school head coach Tony Mauldin who is friends with Beard through networks which includes Mauldin coaching at Abilene Christian. Jones' former high school teammate Toddrick Gotcher, who plays at Texas Tech and was recruited to Lubbock by Beard when he was an assistant at Tech, also encouraged Jones to connect with Beard and play for ASU. "Toddrick just kept telling me that Beard was a straight-forward coach who would make me better a player." Jones said. Mauldin, who is currently running a basketball academy in Africa, also coached Omari Gudul at Ranger College and ASU graduate assistant Peter Kiganya at the professional level. Jones kept hearing positives about Beard and his program in San Angelo from his former coaches and teammate. He heard about loyalty, not giving up on people, about commitments to excellence, a will to win and how Beard would coach him to be the best player he could become.

"Chris is a tremendous young man who came from a situation that wasn't easy, but he never made excuses and always worked hard to achieve his goals," Locklear said. "He was able to find a way out of coming from a single-parent household and not having a whole lot and has really made something of his life. That's not an easy thing to do for a lot of kids. I knew when Chris wanted to transfer that playing for coach Beard was the right decision. Beard really believes in his players and Chris needed to be in that kind of environment. He was ready for a change, but what he really told me was that he was trying to develop and get better as a basketball player."

Locklear, who was Beard's assistant at the junior college level from 1999-2001, has now been the head coach at Lakeview Centennial for three years and remembers Chris evolving from a kid who did not play middle school basketball to a guy who led his team to the brink of a Class 5A state championship. He witnessed the growth of a young player who went from an unsure freshman to the confident player fans at ASU see today.

"We knew we had a good athlete, but it wasn't until about midway through his freshman year that we knew how good of a basketball player we had," Locklear said. "It probably took him that long to realize how good he was too. He really took off as a sophomore and he figured out that he could be the best player on the floor. It was a lot of fun to watch him develop and see him mature out there. He continued working hard throughout his high school career and was one of the best players in the state by the time he was a senior."

Jones became such a great high school player by the time he led his team to back-to-back state championship games that he was honored after his senior season by the Garland Sports Hall of Fame and signed a scholarship with North Texas. A two-time District 10-5A MVP, Jones had helped Centennial to a 68-4 record during his junior and senior seasons and was accustomed to winning. A point guard with every trait you'd want out of one, Jones is committed to competing on both sides of the court and is currently leading the Rams and the Lone Star Conference with 95 assists and 52 steals.

"I really just take the court every game wanting my teammates to know that I'm going to put them in the best position to score as possible and that I'm never going to give up on them," Jones said. "I've been told that I'm too unselfish at times, but I don't buy into that. If we're winning, I'm happy. I feel that we have a great thing going here right now because everyone has everyone's back. We are all in this together and we all believe in each other."

"As a coach the ultimate goal is to have a team full of players that you trust," Beard added. "Elite players want the same thing, to have a trust factor with their coach. Chris and I have a good relationship. We both want to win. I trust CJ completely."

One of five seniors on this year's team, which is 17-1 on the season, nationally ranked and is on a program record 12-game winning streak, Jones is quick to get his teammates involved in the game on the court and to acknowledge the cast of Rams off it. Jones took his own path to ASU as did Raijon Kelly, Marsell Holden, Demario Mayfield and Tommy Woolridge who are also playing their senior seasons and has embraced developing unity with his teammates.

"Nobody is better than anybody," Jones said. "We all came from different places, but we're all in this together. We came here not knowing each other but we developed a strong bond because we realized that we all are here with a second chance to prove what we can do. Nothing has been given to anyone on this team. We are here to earn respect and to play for our families back home, for ourselves and for all of our teammates who are in this together."

Jones leads ASU with a 62.4 field-goal percentage and is scoring 15.1 points per game. He seemingly could score at-will with his ability to shoot the ball and his skill-set which enables him to either blow by defenders with his quickness or get them off balance with his ball-handling skills. Despite his scoring prowess, his ability to get his teammates remains one of his strengths on offense. He is averaging 5.3 assists per game on a team of unselfish players who are working together with one goal in mind.  

"He controls the game and understands how to get everyone involved," Holden said. "He's a relaxed guy, but he knows when to turn it up. He can get us going and he knows when to get his own shot going. We follow off his lead and he's taking us to new levels right now."

Jones, who recorded a 4.0 GPA in the fall semester, is putting together one of the best seasons throughout the country on the court. His stats have led DII at times this season and he is currently fourth in the nation with his 52 steals and is only four behind the leader. He's leading the conference with his 95 steals and is 17th in the nation with his field-goal percentage.

"Chris is a phenomenal player who is doing everything for us on both sides of the court," Mayfield added. "You can't ask for more out of your point guard than what he does for our team. He's a hardworking guy who is the first one to practice to work on his craft and never takes a day off. He gets himself ready for every challenge and is ready when it is time."

There's no doubt about the determination and loyalty Jones has for this year's Angelo State basketball team, but it's also important to understand that he's playing for a team back in Dallas. The team includes, LaTonya, D'merhic and London who see Chris as much more than a tremendous basketball talent. They see him as a son, a brother, a father, a mentor and their inspiration. That responsibility is not lost on Chris and it's something his family will rely on long after this season is over.

"He's the only male role model we have and he takes that seriously," LaTonya said. "His brother and sister adore him and really look up to him for all that he's accomplished with his life. He's their father in a way. If his little brother gets in trouble at school, he doesn't want me to call Chris and tell him because he knows Chris will get on him and help me straighten him out. Chris is our man. No one in our family has ever graduated from college and we couldn't be more proud of what Chris is doing and is going to do with his life."

Basketball and life are not easy, but some people and players just have that uncanny ability to make it appear that way. Jones is one of those guys.
 
ADDITIONAL QUOTE
Chris Jones on going from playing in Division I to Division II basketball:
"I'm not lying when I saying that Division II is just as strong as the level I played at the past three years. We have an edge down here because we are talented and feel that we belong in the discussion with Division I players. We are out here wanting to go get it and we understand that we can't take any days off or that anything is going to be given to us. I know I can keep playing after this season and it doesn't matter that I'm playing Division II basketball right now. I'm working hard every day in practice and feel I'm playing better than I ever have before. I have a dream and am not giving up on it. I know I can play and I know I can help teams win. I'm going to do everything I can to prove that throughout this season and hopefully for a long time to come."