January 4, 1999
BERKELEY, CA - By Julie Blodgett
Robbie Jones took California men's basketball team by surprise last season when he played in 23 games and earned 10 starts. Jones, then a galloping sophomore walk-on guard showed his coaches, teammates and fans that he had all of the flashy moves and skills necessary to play in the Pacific-10 Conference. However, this did not happen to Jones overnight; there were several doors to open and obstacles to overcome that transformed Jones into the player he is today.
Jones was born with basketball genes. He practiced with the local high school team when he was in junior high and then made the varsity squad his sophomore year at Cordova High School in Sacramento, where his father Bob was the coach. Jones averaged 20.1 points per game, was named co-caption and team MVP, and earned all-conference honors as a junior and senior. Growing up in Sacramento, his dream was to play for a Pac-10 school, but when recruiting time came around, those 10 schools were not knocking on his door. Instead Jones decided to take the bull by the horns and walk-on at Cal.
"I had nothing to lose, it was close to home, a great education," said Jones. "And when I got here, I knew it was the place to be. I loved it."
Playing for Todd Bozeman's program, Jones quickly realized that his chances of ever stepping foot on the court were going to be virtually impossible. After a great deal of thought, Jones decided to withdraw from Cal and enroll for one year at Canada Junior College in Redwood City. As a freshman at Canada JC, he had a successful season, averaging 15.1 points per game and leading his team to a 26-5 record. After one year of junior college competition, Jones continued to look for offers from Pac-10 schools, but decided to come back to Cal, with a little help from his friends.
"Coach Bozeman was gone, there was an entire new staff and I was talking to my friends on the team the entire time I was at Canada, and they told me the program has changed and I should come back to Cal," explained Jones. "I wanted to give it another shot."
So, Jones migrated back to the other side of the bay and walked-on, once again, but to a new type of basketball team. Finally, Jones felt the entire program was picture perfect for him.
"Before I came back, I wanted to be sure that I was going to have the opportunity to play," Jones said. "I talked to the new coaching staff and they admitted that it was going to be really difficult for me to find playing time, but if I proved myself to them, they weren't going to hold me back."
At the time of the meeting between himself and Ben Braun's staff, Jones had no idea that he was going to be able to start 10 games and become a key performer for the Bears during the 1997-98 season. He saw little playing time early in the year with only six minutes in the first four games. But, Jones played well in 13 minutes of action in a victory over Portland State and earned a start in the next contest against Brigham Young. A memorable moment for him was when he brought the Cal crowd to its feet with an early breakaway dunk against BYU. Jones' playing time then substantially increased once Pac-10 competition started and his best game of the season ended up being the finale against Oregon, when he had a career-high 11 points, four rebounds, three assists and three steals in 30 minutes of playing time. He finished the season committing only 11 turnovers in 264 minutes of play.
"Robbie is a breath of fresh air," said Braun. "He is a player who joined the team with no guarantees other that the fact that he would practice with us to make us better."
This season has started out similar to last season for Jones. So far, he has seen little action on the court. Yet, Jones realizes this year's team has more depth and there are several new scholarship players who have been given the opportunity over him to show the program what abilities they possess. But nevertheless Jones is keeping a positive outlook for this season, and hopes that the basketball court will slowly become a land of opportunity for him once again.
"I see a long season ahead of us, and nothing has changed," said Jones. "I don't feel anybody has beaten me out for a position, I am just waiting for the opportunity. And, when that opportunity arises, here I come again, just as before."
With the positive attitude and perspective that Jones has, he can only move ahead and improve with every given day. He has already achieved his long-term goal of becoming a Pac-10 player and in doing that, he has become a role model for his teammates as well. As for this year, all Jones needs is to get an opportunity to show everybody once again that he is fully capable of playing against the Bears competition.
"If the coaches leave the door cracked, I am going to try and knock it all the way open," said Jones.
