Exactly 996 miles lie between Idaho State University and Creighton University.
That journey for men’s basketball graduate transfer Kelvin Jones became an easy one when he noticed one appealing factor that Creighton had that was better than any he had seen at other schools.
“The thing that kind of separated Creighton from other schools was the family dynamic and the things they’ve got going on here,” Jones said, “Facilities and all that stuff, you know there’s a lot of great facilities around the country, but these are the best out here as well as the coaching here. It was just kind of a no-brainer to come out here.”
Jones came to Creighton in late sum- mer 2019, right before the team was to travel to Australia for its summer exhibition games. Before becoming a Bluejay, the Chihuahua, Mexico native started 28 of 29 games for the Idaho State Bengals his junior year, averaging 9.9 points and 5.6 rebounds per game. With the recent injury of sophomore and fellow post player Jacob Epperson, Jones and sophomore Christian Bishop will be the primary big man that the Jays’ offense will look to.
“Honestly, I think we are going to play great together,” Bishop said, “We just try to talk to each other, use the best we can with our knowledge and try to get better and make each other better. By doing this, we can make the team better.”
Because Jones joined the team a bit later than most graduate transfers and even incoming freshmen do, he has had to transition into a faster offensive and defensive style. This quick transition and integration into Creighton’s style of play is one that coach Greg McDermott believes will require patience on both the team’s part and fanbase’s as well.
“It’s like a speed-reading class and you’ve never done speed reading before,” McDermott said. “We’ve got to get him up to speed with everything that’s going on as quickly as possible. Right now, what I think our fans are going to see at least initially out of him is someone that’s going to play their tail off and really compete but also someone that’s making mistakes because they’re still thinking too much because everything hasn’t become a habit.”
When it comes to leaving his mark at Creighton, Jones has two things at the top of his list: work ethic and being a strong force down low in the post. Using the upcoming Big East schedule as motivation, he looks forward to going out against the competition and battling it out with his teammates.
“I want to be able to go out there and play good defense is one thing. That and going out and playing hard,” Jones said, “It’s my last year, so I don’t want to have any regrets or hold back. I want to leave it all out there on the court.”