Iowa's Dale Jones ready for whatever's next

IOWA CITY — Dale Jones just wants to play basketball.

There's been enough waiting. Enough patience. Enough rehab. Enough pain. Enough torment, watching his friends and teammates on the court without him.

After twice tearing his right ACL, the Waterloo native just about has it all behind him, and is ready to make whatever contribution he can to the Iowa men's basketball team. Maybe there was a time when mid-October would've been the time where he was working hard to earn a starting role, or major minutes.

But Dale Jones just wants to play basketball.

'I dream about it all the time,' Jones said. 'I come to the court ready to go every day, so whenever it comes, I'll be ready. When I touch the floor, I don't think about (the injuries).'

It's coming, and pretty soon.

Jones, who transferred to Iowa from Tyler Junior College in Tyler, Texas, played in six games for the Hawkeyes last year before his second ACL tear. His 5.5 points and 3 rebounds per game, and 45 percent shooting from beyond the arc put him square in the middle of Coach Fran McCaffery's plans.

At Iowa's media day this month, McCaffery reminded everyone Jones showed glimpses of what he was capable of in games against Marquette (five points, four rebounds in 16 minutes) and Dayton (six points, three rebounds in 15 minutes). He wasn't used as a primary offensive weapon before his injury, because Jarrod Uthoff and Peter Jok had that role, but McCaffery said Jones 'was the guy that we looked at and said, you know, if he was here, he'd go get 25. I mean, he has that capability.'

This time around, once fully healthy, Jones will still be fighting to get on the floor, but not against well-established forwards. A deep rotation with very few defined positions means fluid personnel.

Jones really doesn't care when he gets on the court, just that he does. He wants to make the impact he and his coaches think he can.

'I came from a junior college and was an All-American there, but coming in and playing behind a guy who was going to the NBA in Jarrod Uthoff, I knew I was going to have to wait my turn. Then I got hurt, and knew I was going to have to wait longer,' Jones said. 'I'm not big on starting. As long as I have an impact on helping us win or doing something — because I brought a lot of energy last year (while) injured. I just (got to) hype the team up, getting prepared for the game, being in their ear and being that fuel that helped drive them. I know there's other things besides just starting a game that helps win a game.'

Jones has grown up a lot in the last year — in the last three years, to be clearer.

The silver lining in having to go through months of rehabbing an injured knee for a second time was that Jones said he knew how to navigate it the second time around. Push things a little less hard, he said. Be a little more patient. Don't go too hard in the limited amount of time you have on the court.

There's a maturity he said he learned in forcing himself to think of the future. He said, 'if I want to play for years to come, I can't just hop on the floor every time I feel like getting out there.'

Watching NBA superstars was the biggest inspiration for him in that process, and he said Golden State Warriors forward Shawn Livingston was the best example. If Livingston could return from one of the most gruesome basketball injuries there's been, Jones said, he can do this.

McCaffery thinks so, too, and his admiration for the senior has only grown in watching him come back.

'I'm really proud of him and how he's responded,' McCaffery said. 'Very proud of everything that he's done because when you're a guy like Dale who knows he has the talent to make money playing basketball and you blow your knee out for the second time, that's a very upsetting thing and could really mess with your psyche. I've been impressed with his positive approach to his rehabilitation and the way that he has assimilated into the team when he hasn't been on the floor every day.'

Growing personally from a setback like Jones had is not a new thing. He's far from the first and certainly won't be the last. But he's the latest for the Hawkeyes, and maybe that's one of the things he can do to help his teammates.

Not wilting under the weight of desire or frustration speaks to the man and player Jones said he wants to be. The role he has in his final two years of eligibility — Jones was granted a sixth year in July — may not be the one he or Iowa thought he'd have two years ago, but he's got one.

Dale Jones just wants to play basketball. However much he can, for as long as he can.

'I'm going to ride this until the wheels fall off,' Jones said. 'There's no giving up. I'm this deep in it. I've been yelled at by mom and dad at Midnight for playing late on the courts and stuff like that. I've been playing this game since I was 5, so there's no giving up. No way.'

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