{"id":166700,"date":"2020-12-23T13:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-12-23T18:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nothingbutnylon.com\/?p=166700"},"modified":"2021-10-13T16:50:51","modified_gmt":"2021-10-13T20:50:51","slug":"jarrod-jones-success","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nothingbutnylon.com\/jarrod-jones-success\/","title":{"rendered":"Jarrod Jones Measures Success Through Community Impact"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><em>This article was originally published July 22, 2019.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What is success?<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jarrod Jones always had NBA aspirations. The native of Michigan City, Indiana, dreamed of playing in the biggest league in the world, and he gave himself a chance with his college career at Ball State.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In his four years with the Cardinals from 2008-12, Jones earned two All-MAC Honorable Mentions, one spot on the All-MAC Second Team and a nod on the All-MAC First Team as a junior in 2011. He finished sixth in school history in scoring (1,615 points), third in rebounds (975) and second in blocks (115), solidifying himself as one of Ball State\u2019s best.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But he went undrafted in the <a href=\"https:\/\/nothingbutnylon.com\/khris-middleton-nba-debut\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"190561\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">2012 NBA Draft<\/a>, and although Jarrod Jones played for the Sacramento Kings in the 2012 Summer League, no permanent offer came. Overseas came calling.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\"><p>\u201cWhen I first started, I didn\u2019t know much about overseas,\u201d Jones said. \u201cI knew Kobe\u2019s dad played in Italy. I knew Italy, Spain, and that was pretty much it in terms of these are big basketball countries.\u201d<br><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>Jones recalibrated and set his sights on Italy, but he was shut out from that league, too.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\"><p>\u201cNo team in Italy would give me a chance,\u201d he explained.<br><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>So, he reset again. First, he started in Ukraine, then moved to Hungary in 2013. Jones won a championship and earned MVP honors in his rookie Hungarian campaign.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\"><p>\u201cI thought for sure I would get a call back,\u201d Jones said of the NBA Summer League, \u201cbut I didn\u2019t.\u201d<br><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>From 2013 to 2015, Jones played for Atomer\u0151m\u0171 SE in Paks, a town with roughly 20,000 people.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\"><p>\u201cFor 10 months, I basically ate at two restaurants the whole time, went to one grocery store, and went back and forth from my house to the gym,\u201d Jones said of the time he would spend in Paks during the season. \u201cThat was pretty much it, all there was to do there.\u201d<br><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>For four years, Jarrod Jones bounced among teams in Hungary and France, having to wait to get his shot at Italy. He came away with the 2013 and 2016 Nemzeti Bajnoks\u00e1g I\/A championships, the top league in Hungary, and the 2013 Hungarian Cup, and finally gained Italian attention.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe title=\"Jarrod Jones - Pinar Karsiyaka | Highlights | Basketball Champions League 2017\/18\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/eqfPCztY6rg?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>For Victoria Libertas in Lega Basket Serie A, Jones dominated. He was second in the league in scoring and rebounding, averaging 19 points and 10 boards per outing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Looking for a new challenge, he trekked to Turkey. He had heard of the league\u2019s difficulty, even being forewarned by a coach who was recruiting him that he probably wouldn\u2019t have the same type of numbers as he did in Italy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<p>Jones responded by putting up big numbers in the Champions League and keeping up with the performances he displayed in Italy the previous season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While the player progressed in his overseas career, he kept his eyes on the NBA. Each summer, he would ask his agent to reach out to teams, aiming for a Summer League spot. But nothing ever came, and Jones had all but given up until the Miami Heat reached out to him in 2018, providing Jones with a chance.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\"><p>\u201cMy mother is from Miami, so I thought, this is the perfect situation,\u201d he said. \u201cI can go there and maybe get on the team, go to Miami and play in front of my family. So, I went, even at 28, one of the older guys in the Summer League. But at the end of the day, an opportunity is an opportunity. I said, let me go there and make the most of it.\u201d<br><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>He didn\u2019t get to play much at first, but as the competition progressed, he saw more time. In the playoffs against New Orleans, Jarrod Jones scored 31 points, grabbed eight rebounds and dished four assists in a 110-106 win.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\"><p>\u201cThis is the NBA stage right here,\u201d he said. \u201cThese are the top players in the world right here, you know? It\u2019s like, once you realize that what you\u2019re doing is a success, it doesn\u2019t matter how much money you make or if you win an NBA championship. As long as you\u2019re comfortable and know that you gave it your all, then you can go home at night and be happy.\u201d<br><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>The storybook result didn\u2019t happen. Jones did not make the Heat roster and instead went back to Europe, joining AS Monaco Basket in LNB Pro A for the 2018-19 season.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignleft is-resized\"><img width=\"215\" height=\"384\" src=\"https:\/\/res.cloudinary.com\/fivestarmedia\/images\/w_215,h_384\/f_auto,q_auto\/v1634158886\/basketball\/TBT-1-2\/TBT-1-2.jpg?_i=AA\" alt=\"jarrod jones ball state tbt the region photo mark donahue\" class=\"wp-post-166700 wp-image-166713\" data-public-id=\"basketball\/TBT-1-2.jpg\" data-format=\"jpg\" data-transformations=\"f_auto,q_auto\" data-version=\"1634158886\" data-responsive=\"1\" srcset=\"https:\/\/res.cloudinary.com\/fivestarmedia\/images\/w_1048,h_1871\/f_auto,q_auto\/v1634158886\/basketball\/TBT-1-2\/TBT-1-2.jpg?_i=AA 1048w, https:\/\/res.cloudinary.com\/fivestarmedia\/images\/w_848,h_1514\/f_auto,q_auto\/v1634158886\/basketball\/TBT-1-2\/TBT-1-2.jpg?_i=AA 848w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1147px) 100vw 1147px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Jones has never played in an NBA game, an objective failure of his ultimate goal. Yet, his story is a success: a healthy overseas career is one side of his. Another, and perhaps the most important, is what it has allowed him to do for his home town.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In 2011, Jones combined with Brawley Chisholm to created Love The Game (LTG), a basketball camp held in Michigan City and Cherry Hill, New Jersey, focused on \u201cinstilling passion and perseverance into the hearts and minds of young athletes, while teaching and enhancing the art and technique of the sport,\u201d<a href=\"https:\/\/ltglovethegame.com\/\" data-lasso-id=\"656\"> according to its website<\/a>.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There is a charge to attend, but Jones has added something more for his community in Michigan City. After the week-long camp, Jones puts on the LTG Block Party, an open event focused on children, community and giving back.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\"><p>\u201cIt\u2019s a big barbecue with an outdoor tournament going on at the same time,\u201d he explained. \u201cWe have a DJ on the mic, we have big bounce houses for the kids to play in, and we have LTG backpacks that I get made up. We fill them with school supplies, and any kids who want one from the city are invited to come, and we hand them out.\u201d<br><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>Jones started the affair out of his own pocket, requiring no charge for any attendee.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\"><p>\u201cEverything is free. No one has to pay admission or anything,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s all complete charity outreach to the community.\u201d<br><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>As the years have gone on, others have taken notice. Bodyarmor has began donating drinks, and Horizon Bank, which is local to Michigan City, has provided some backing. The outside interest only confirms to Jones that he\u2019s doing something right.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\"><p>\u201cFor me to start something and for these organizations to even want to be a part of my event, that let\u2019s me know that it\u2019s a success, something that I\u2019m doing that people appreciate,\u201d Jones explained.<br><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>Jarrod Jones has earned a good enough living through basketball to live well and be generous to the people who were around him from the beginning. His family is happy and healthy, and Jones has been afforded the ability to see the world because of hoops. All in all, he can\u2019t complain.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\"><p>\u201cMy parents are retired, I can go home, and I\u2019m in a position where I can give back to my community,\u201d he said. \u201cI can invite the entire city, give out school supplies and food, and provide games for the kids to play. If I can do that, I think I\u2019m pretty successful.\u201d<br><\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This article was originally published July 22, 2019. What is success? Jarrod Jones always had NBA aspirations. The&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":166703,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_cloudinary_featured_overwrite":false},"categories":[130,701,136],"tags":[678,682,677,679,680],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v19.2 (Yoast SEO v19.6) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Jarrod Jones Measures Success Through Community Impact<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Jarrod Jones was a star at Ball State but had to fight through a number of rejections before finding his rooting in the European professional circuit.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nothingbutnylon.com\/jarrod-jones-success\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" 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