Published: July 13, 2009
Meet Dominique Jones. He was the most underrated, underappreciated guard in the Big East last season while playing for the South Florida Bulls.
A standout sophomore on the downtrodden, cellar-dwelling Big East team, Jones isn’t worried about skyrocketing to stardom.
He’s a cool customer, never taxed or bothered by the lack of individual shine, headlines, or the fact that he’s yet to crack All-Conference.
He doesn’t keep tabs on his numbers or troll ESPN.com, comparing himself other playmaking guards who may be getting more love.
Through his win-crazy energy and attitude, it’s visible that personal accolades are meaningless to the chiseled 6-foot-4 guard. Surprising people as a team, progressing on a day-to-day basis, and maintaining his role as USF’s do-it-all guard are first and foremost.
Resonating the righteous ideology of the legendary Oscar Robertson, Jones feels a team’s best player is the one who takes the team’s worst player and makes him good.
“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,” explained Jones.
“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.”
Jones was a veritable superman for the Bulls this season, leading the team in essential categories such as points (18.1), assists (3.9), and rebounds (5.6).
He shredded Bobby Huggins’ complex West Virginia defense to the tune of 35 points .
He scorched the nets for 29 points and snared eight boards against Providence.
A cyborg in Nikes, Jones seldom played under 32 minutes in a game this season.
“Our team is progressing,” opined Jones. “I feel like we take steps back sometimes, but we have to keep pushing forward and get the best out of (next) 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.
“Our main thing is to just keep going, keep going, keep going. If a team rips off a little run, we don’t want to let up. We want to respond with a little run.
If the Bulls–who stamped a shocking, 57-56 upset win over Marquette back on Feb. 6–improve next season, Jones will make a little run to the Big East first team.
In fact, the versatile scorer could evolve into an NBA prospect at that point.
