USF STAR GUARD 'JONES-ING' FOR RESPECT

February 21, 2009


By Zach Smart

A standout sophomore on a no longer cellar-dwelling Big East team, Dominique Jones isn't worried about ascending to star status. He doesn't care that he's not mentioned along the same lines of the surplus of top-flight Big East guards. He doesn't pay attention to stat sheets and didn't care that erupted for a career-high 35 points against West Virginia.

Individual accolades are meaningless to the chiseled 6-foot-4, 205-pound guard from Lake Wales, Fla.

Surprising people as a team, progressing on a day-to-day basis, and continuing his role as usf's do-it-all guard are first and foremost to Jones, who had 14 points, five assists, two steals, and two blocks in all 40 minutes of the Bulls' 64-50 loss to UConn at the XL Center Saturday.

"We see that we're a better team than people think and we're a better team that we show some nights," said Jones.

Read rest of article...click 'Read More' below...



Jones said as a player, he doesn't like being pegged as the scoring machine or the go-to-guy. He wants to have a hand in everything he can and make his teammates better.

"I want to do a little bit of everything. I don't want to be a scorer, I don't want to be a point guard, I don't want to be a shooting guard. I want to be a player. I want to do it all. I think that I'm kinda underrated, people say that, but that's not my main focus. My main focus is just getting the job done for my team, just going out there and playing and I feel like my glory will come."

Jones has been a veritable superman for the Bulls this season, averaging team highs in points (18.2), assists (4.0), and rebounds (5.2). He erupted for 36 points (on 12-for-16 shooting), 31 at Central Florida. He gave the West Virginia the aforementioned 35-spot and had 29 points and eight boards against Providence. A machine in Nikes, Jones is yet to play under 32 minutes in a game this season.

"I feel like our team is progressing. I feel like we take steps back sometimes, but we have to keep pushing forward and get the best out of this season. Our goal is to just be prepared for the Big East tournament, get as many wins as we can. We need to keep getting better, set history, and just keep flowing."

The Bulls shot an atrocious 9-for-31 in a first half that saw them throw up more bricks than a building that seats more than the 15,451 in attendance Saturday afternoon. They shot a woeful 21-for-65 (32.2 percent) on the game. UConn, sleepwalking up until the final 6 minutes, 15 seconds, also came to the rifle range with a supersoaker. The Huskies were 14-for-37 in the first half, allowing the Bulls to keep within striking distance throughout.

Whenever a crucial bucket was needed, Jones was the answer.

He finished a wowing dunk, plus the foul and swatted UConn's 7-foot-3 center Hasheem Thabeet in the opening minutes. He converted a backdoor cut that he got free on to an easy lay-in that cut UConn's lead to 19-14 with 4:46 remaining. Jones' corner 3-pointer sliced UConn's lead to 39-29 in the second half.

Jones would later score on back-to-back fast breaks that cut UConn's edge to just six.

It occurred when UConn forward Stanley "Sticks" Robinson tried to stretch an alley-oop into a highlight reel jam. The folly resulted in a South Florida fast break that Jones was on the receiving end of. At 11:48, Jones finished a fast break dunk that had Jim Calhoun kicking his chair and shouting "What are you doing?" so loud that even the people in the skybox could hear the exasperated Husky game general.

"We were rolling at that point," said Jones. "The main thing with us is just trying to keep it going, keep it going. We try not to let them get out to a little run like we did."

If the Bulls--who stamped a shocking, 57-56 upset win over Marquette back on Feb. 6--improve, Jones will make a little run to the Big East first team.

Jones starred at Lake Wales High and was named first team 4A all-state after averaging 21 points, 10 boards, and seven assists his senior year.

The kid is Lake Wales through and through. The facilitating guard represents the program everywhere he goes. When accidentally asked if he played at a neighboring, rival high school, Jones gave a terse response.

"Hell no!" He snapped. "Lake Wales, Lake Wales."