Cheney senior leads by example because friends and family have shown him that's the best way
By JOHN McCALLUM
Editor
Some folks will tell you that Cheney High School senior DeAngelo Jones is one of the best athletes to grace the Blackhawks' hallways. Others will say he's one of the nicest “kids” you'll ever meet.
Sit down and talk awhile with him and his demeanor and ready smile confirms the latter. Watch him bust a long run on the football field, beat somebody off the dribble for a dunk on the basketball court or fly legs kicking towards the long jump sand and you'll probably say “Amen” to the former.
Accolades aside, and that's tough to do, Jones legacy once he graduates in June may not be his athletic abilities or his easy-going friendliness. What might be printed below his portrait for future generations of Blackhawks to see are two words: role model.
Not an easy task, but talk with Jones and you understand he grasps the concept and embraces its responsibilities and continuation because others have shown the way.
“You appreciate so much being able to coach a kid like him,” Blackhawks' basketball head coach Ryan Fitzgerald said. “As coaches, we can point to someone like him and say, hey, that's how you do it.”
The son of Air Force parents, Jones arrived in Cheney from Hawaii in the first grade, attending Windsor Elementary School. He is the youngest of three brothers whose father, Anthony, got them all into the gym at an early age.
“I usually just stuck with basketball because you really couldn't do, like football, in the third grade,” Jones said.
He tried baseball, playing one game. He was fast and ran the bases well, but couldn't understand what the piece of aluminum was for.
“When it came to hitting the baseball, I couldn't hit the ball,” he says with a laugh.
Jones played basketball at the various levels and he played with passion. Cheney track coach Tom Stralser coached Jones on a Cheney Parks and Recreation team, as well as his middle brother Griffon and his own son Daniel, on another and remembers practices where Griffon would bring DeAngelo along.
“Michael (Stralser's youngest son) would come too,” Stralser said. “He and DeAngelo would go to the other end of the gym and play the snot out of each other one-on-one.”
In middle school the sporting pantheon opened up for DeAngelo. Inspired by Griffon and oldest brother AJ, both three-sport athletes, DeAngelo took up track and football, hoping to be a running back in the latter.
“I was too tall and stood up too straight,” he said. “Not a good combination.”
His first year at CHS, Jones helped lead the freshman football team to an undefeated record in league and 9-1 mark overall. Reaching varsity his sophomore year, he got to do something he always wanted to do – play on the same team with Griffon.
The brothers played on the Blackhawks' football team, with DeAngelo backing up senior Brandon Hardie at quarterback. They helped lead the basketball team to the 2A state tournament, Cheney's first such appearance since 2001. And at the end of the season he got a glimpse of the future.
“After the (football) season, Brandon said, ‘this is your team now,” Jones said. “I just thought, dang, high school is going fast.”
Jones became the starting quarterback in 2008, guiding the Blackhawks to their first winning season since 2001, just missing the playoffs. He led Cheney to the post season in basketball as the Blackhawks leading scorer at 17 points per game.
During the Red-Black scrimmage in track, Jones' coaches thought they might try him in the long jump. His first leap, he went 21 feet, 10 inches.
“Since I did pretty good, I stuck with it,” he said. He added the triple jump and high jump to his repertoire, and ended the 2009 season placing third in triple jump at 2A state with a leap of 45-2 1/2, finishing eighth in the long jump at 20-10.
As a senior Jones was targeted by opponents as the player to stop. He was also asked by coaches to be a leader, and he selected his brothers and Hardie as his role models for that task, not because of their eloquence but because they offered the way that best fit him.
“I'm not a rah-rah guy. I always lead by example because you can talk a lot,” Jones said. “I just try to go out and show what I have to say.”
This was most evident during basketball where again Jones was Cheney's leading scorer with 19.5 points per game, but more importantly, was often the go-to guy when the game was on the line. What Fitzgerald appreciated most about this was Jones' willingness to accept the role and his easy-going approach.
“We're up by three against Clarkston and need to make a free throw and he comes over to the bench and makes a joke,” Fitzgerald said. “And then there's that smile. Funny thing was he never ever quit smiling.”
With the end to his high school career approaching, Jones has many accolades to look back on. In football he was All-GNL second team (2008) and first team (2009) as well as league MVP as a defensive back (2009). In basketball he was All-GNL first team twice (2009, 2010), team captain both years, and was selected to play in the state All-Star game this past March.
In track he was All-GNL second team (2008), first team in triple jump (2009) and a 2008 recipient of the WIAA state 2A Sportsmanship Award. What he does this year is yet to be written, and he has already exceeded his previous state marks in the triple and long jumps, going 45-9 and 22-5 respectively.
Jones plans to play basketball and track at Spokane Community College and hopes that road leads to competing at a NCAA Division I school. Despite all his accomplishments, when asked what one of his best moments is in high school, he lists playing with his friends from grade school through high school.
And when it comes to a favorite memory, it isn't state basketball, or track, or making a game winning shot. It's a bus ride home from Medical Lake with his teammates rapping the theme song to the cartoon “Sponge Bob Square Pants” for Fitzgerald's son. It's showing up as a team in their team jackets at the February memorial service for Fitzgerald's uncle, Gonzaga coaching legend Dan Fitzgerald.
For Fitzgerald, this is the most important thing, understanding there's more to life than sports, that Jones and his teammates leave behind for future Blackhawks.
“When my 10-year-old son is playing Nerf hoop he doesn't say some pro name when he makes a shot, he says ‘and DeAngelo Jones beats Clarkston,'” Fitzgerald said. “You appreciate so much being able to coach a kid like DeAngelo.”
John McCallum can be reached at jmac@cheneyfreepress.com.
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