Iowa looks to Dale Jones to fill post void

IOWA CITY — Iowa has a cavern of minutes and production available in the post, and junior-college transfer Dale Jones has the opportunity to fill both of those voids this winter.

Jones, a 6-foot-7 Waterloo native, played two seasons at Tyler (Texas) Junior College wrapped around an injury-filled second year. Jones, a junior, produced offensively, averaging 16.9 points, grabbing 8.3 rebounds and knocking down 45 percent from 3-point range last season. He's got versatility and his offensive skills are evident.

But for Jones to play heavy minutes, he needs to adapt to Iowa's defense. At Tyler, he played primarily zone, both with 2-3 and 1-3-1 looks. He'll do that at Iowa in some situations, but man-to-man defense remains the program's staple.

'Right now I'm not really focusing on my offense,' Jones said. 'That's always going to be there. That's going to get me through a lot. Now I'm focused on my defense and really impacting on defense. I can rebound. I've been doing an outstanding job of rebounding, but I've got to really keep a guy in front of me. Being long, I can cause a lot of problems and use that to my advantage.

'I wasn't really taught any man-to-man concepts (at Tyler) so right now each coach is breaking it down for me: positioning for rebounding, containing shooters. Everything. It's a lot, but I'm focusing on that.'

Iowa lost its leading scorer and rebounder in forward Aaron White (16.4 points per game, 7.3 rebounds per game) and Big Ten sixth man of the year in center Gabe Olaseni (8.1 ppg, 4.8 rpg). Senior Jarrod Uthoff will shift to power forward and sophomore Dominique Uhl will play both positions to ease some of those losses. But Iowa could use a newcomer like Jones to offset the departures of White and Olaseni.

Iowa assistant coach Andrew Francis said Jones' strengths are mostly on offense. He can play both forward spots, can score in the low post as well as catch-and-shoot from the perimeter. Jones also can create his shot. But for Jones to play 20 minutes, it all starts with defense and toughness.

'He's a better rebounder than people may think,' Francis said. 'We need him to lock in on rebounding the basketball and bringing a physical presence in the paint even though he's a little undersized. He's a shade under 6-8, but he still brings a mature, physical toughness that we need in that frontcourt so it gives us a guy that can stretch the floor.'

Jones came to Iowa for the opportunity to contribute right away. Now he has that chance.

'He's a long-arm scorer who rebounds,' Iowa Coach Fran McCaffery said. 'And I think those are the two things you have to love about him. Defensively he's got some improving to do; he knows that. But with that length I think he could be a really good defender, if he just positions himself where he needs to be. He's a guy that with minutes is going to put points and rebounds on the board.'

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