Gahanna’s Jones has put in years of work to defy ‘undersized’ label
If the game had ended 1.9 seconds earlier, Sean Jones would’ve been the hero.
The Gahanna guard, then a junior, gave his Lions a two-point lead in the dying seconds of a regional championship game against Westerville Central in March. But Westerville Central guard Tasos Cook launched a half-court shot at the buzzer, hoping for a miracle, and he got it. Jones didn’t get to be the hero.
It goes without saying that the Marquette signee is motivated by the heartbreaking ending to his junior year.
“That’s a scar we’re all gonna have for the rest of our lives, that’s for sure,” said
Gahanna coach Tony Staib. “I think Sean and the senior class have not forgotten that. I think that’s a motivational factor for this year. We don’t need to talk about it. We’ve talked about it ad nauseam. But with this group, it’s there.”
When Jones is on the court, he’s relentless. Whether it’s getting a basket of his own, setting up a teammate or making a stop on defense, Jones doesn’t know how to do things at any speed other than all out, all the time.
He’s always played with an edge in a lifetime of hearing comments about how he’s undersized at 5 feet 11. Some colleges didn’t recruit him because of his height. Jones didn’t need any extra motivation to be exceptional this season, but he has it after the way last year ended.
“Being an undersized guard, you always have to have a chip on your shoulder,” Jones said. “I’ve kept that in mind. I’ve talked to a lot of previous guards who have been undersized and successful at the next level. One of the things I’ve heard from almost everybody is that you’ve gotta be a dog.”
For Jones, that mentality manifests in a few ways.
“I have to be more in shape than most players,” Jones said. “I have to be more mental than most players who are just athletic and lanky. It just goes into me having to be more precise on my little things than others.”
The importance of the mental side of basketball isn’t something Jones has always believed in, he said, but once he figured it out his game changed.
“I just feel like I go out there and I can do whatever I want,” Jones said. “With doing whatever I want, it’s a mental state to me. It’s all mental . ... Confidence is mental, really. Most of the time (in a slump), the problem is mental. It’s not really you. As long as my mental is right, I always know my head is gonna be in the game.”
Scoring has always been a strength for Jones. He averaged 16 points per game last year and is fewer than 300 points away from becoming Gahanna’s all-time scoring leader. Many elite scorers at the high school level keep their focus on the offensive end of the floor, but not Jones.
He takes the defensive end just as seriously.
“He will play defense with the same intensity that he plays offense,” Staib said. “He’s always been committed to both ends of the floor, which is not the case in many players today. He values that and he understands the
importance of that, which is huge . ... He takes it as a personal challenge to stop other players.”
Jones is also looking to round out his game and become a better facilitator, in preparation for the role he’ll play at Marquette.
The work he’s put in on that aspect of his game is already paying off.
Last Friday against Westland, Jones had an off night shooting the ball, particularly early. But he finished the game with six assists and three steals while spending most of the second half on the bench watching the reserves as the Lions rolled to a 79-31 win.
“He’s very dialed into not only his own personal growth as a player, but he’s such a team player as well,” Staib said. “There’s nothing more important to Sean than winning. Winning comes first. He prepares every single day to do that . ... You can just tell he has spent so much time on his own in the offseason perfecting his craft that skillwise, he’s just off the charts.
“You don’t do that overnight. You don’t do that by putting in a little bit of time. To get to his skill level, you have to put in years of work, and he’s done that.” bjohnson@dispatch.com @baileyajohnson_