By Caitlyn Pray
Student Reporter
Many may have suspected from childhood that she would be a star. For Northwestern, her light shone when she began playing basketball in 2017.
Jade Jones, point guard for the Lady Ranger basketball team, grew up with a passion and talent for the game from an early age.
“I’ve played for a really long time; like since kindergarten,” Jones said. “My dad’s a high school basketball coach so I’ve been around it my whole life.”
Playing in the position of point guard since she began playing basketball, Jones’ love for the game and acquired skills have taken the athlete from the starter girls’ games to now competing as a graduate student in college in the Great American Conference.
The tracks of Jones’ basketball career since high school especially show Jones as being a hard-to-beat point guard in each team she was a part of.
Although the Rangers currently cheer Jones on at their home games as such a VIP, Jones admitted she had not always been a Lady Ranger. In fact, some Rangers may be surprised to learn that the point-winning point guard was previously a SWOSU Lady Bulldog.
“I went to Southwestern for my first two years of college,” Jones said. “I played there, then I decided to transfer here because Coach Diesselhorst was my high school coach at Pond Creek, so whenever she got the job here I transferred here.”
Although the transfer of Jones’ high school basketball coach to the college level at Northwestern made a large impact on Jones’ decision to join the Lady Rangers team, Jones said that the timing and location of Northwestern had other added perks as well.
“I actually ended up having a really bad ankle injury while I was playing at Southwestern,” Jones said. “So I came here and stayed a year, which gave me time to recover, and coming here to be closer to my family was a big part of it too.” Jones officially became a Lady Ranger in the fall of 2016, though she only practiced as a redshirt and didn’t see any game action. By the next season in 2017, however, Jones’ basketball career was set ablaze once again as she led the team in multiple categories on her way to an Honorable Mention All-GAC selection.
According to Northwestern Athletics, Jones averaged 13.7 points per game and led the conference with an average of 5.3 assist per game in that season. She also shot just over 30 percent for the season and recorded two double-doubles throughout the year.
Of course, there is much more to the Lady Ranger than just her skill on the basketball court. When she’s not aggressively dribbling and blocking for points, some of Jones’ teammates say she is fun, outgoing and very chill.
“Basketball has always been a huge part of my life,” Jones said. “If I’m not playing basketball though, I like to hang out with my family, friends and enjoy being pretty laid back.”Jones continues to shoot and score impressively in the academic arena of Northwestern as well. Jones graduated Northwestern in May of 2018 with a bachelor’s degree in health and sports science, and is currently pursuing her masters in the health and sports science program. “I hope to eventually coach somewhere,” Jones said. “I really don’t care if it’s at the high school or college level, but wherever that takes me.”
As for this season of Lady Rangers Basketball, Jones continues to make her mark while learning along the way. “I’ve learned a lot. Playing basketball has really long seasons, but I love it so just the thought of being done forever is definitely hard to think about. As for this season, we’ve accomplished some things, but we still have a lot yet that we’re wanting to do, so I’m just hoping that my team and I can accomplish as much as we can.”