Saturday, March 24, 2001
Center without TV CAMERAS whir as hundreds of kids scream in the high school gym. Later, they try for a last glimpse of the superstar as his posse pushes back the crowd and whisks him away.
attention
Former Kahuku High standout
Clifton Jones is a success story,
but you wouldn't know itBy Dave Reardon
Star-BulletinA scene worthy of a pro basketball player returning to his alma mater.
But Clifton Jones just stood on the side smiling at Kahuku High School yesterday as a rap star drew all the attention.
A Kahuku student had won a contest called "How Cool is Your School?", earning a visit from recording artist Coolio, who delivered a bunch of new computers.
So the most invisible 6-foot-8 guy on Oahu, one of the few Hawaiians to ever play basketball for pay, merely shrugged and grinned.
The Pac-10's kanaka before Kapono (UCLA's Jason) was unfazed by the mayhem around him that wasn't about him.
Jones doesn't feel dissed, because he's not in it for the attention. Plus, he's used to it. Jones never got a whole lot of exposure when he played high school ball at Kahuku in the late '90s.
"Lots of people doubted me, but it didn't matter," Jones said.
Scouts and college coaches knew he was good -- good enough to play at Skyline Community College (Calif.). And he got better enough to secure a scholarship at Oregon State, where he became a rebounding standout.
Jones recently completed his first year of pro ball in Finland, where he led Joensuun Kataja to the championship of the first division of the Finnish Basketball Association. Jones, who starts at center, missed the team's first two games due to a sprained ankle. They went 1-1. When he got into the lineup, they never lost, winning 22 games.
Jones averaged 16.3 points, 10.3 rebounds and a league-leading 2.5 blocks per game.
His uniform looks like a race car, with about 10 different sponsor logos, including McDonald's and Shell. Even his number, 999, is sponsor-related. "That's the international phone dialing code for America," Jones said.
Jones, 23, hopes to move on to the CBA and maybe get a shot at the NBA.
"I've improved my versatility in Europe, because they let you try a lot of things. They move me around from center, to power forward to small forward," he said. "They'll let big men shoot from outside and bring the ball up if they show they can do it.
"I just need to improve my strength," Jones added.
He will do some of that at Kahuku this spring and summer, when he isn't working to help improve the current Red Raiders in informal workouts.
Red Raiders coach Nathan James said Jones is generous to a fault. Jones wanted to buy the school a $3,000 piece of practice equipment, but James insisted that he not -- not yet, anyway.
"He says he's making good money in Finland, but he still needs to take care of himself before he spends that much on the school. He wants to give back to the school in any way he can," James said. "He's genuine."
Jones said he just wants kids to know there are no limitations. A Hawaiian can become a pro basketball player.
"Keep your dreams alive by working hard and never giving up," he said. "There's a whole world out there."
And nearly all of it -- even Finland -- plays basketball.
Hawaii School Web Sites