By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Except for a year in Hawaii, Nick Jones has never strayed too far from his home state of Kansas.
New Washburn University men's basketball assistant Nick Jones works with participants in the Washburn Basketball Camp Tuesday at Lee Arena. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
And thanks to a timely opening on Brett Ballard's men's basketball staff at Washburn University, that won't change.
The 32-year-old Jones, who grew up in the Wichita area and graduated from Goddard High School and Kansas State, comes to Washburn after eight years on the staff at Wichita State.
Jones stoked his love for coaching in five years as a student manager at K-State -- three years with Frank Martin and two with Bruce Weber -- and then spent a year as a graduate assistant at the University of Hawaii before landing back in Kansas at Wichita State.
"They (Hawaii) brought in a new staff, so I came back to Wichita and knew the staff a little bit,'' Jones said. "I worked camp, worked my way up, and then got an offer to finish my master's degree as GA and then was hired fulltime.''
Jones was on the staffs of Gregg Marshall and Isaac Brown with the Shockers but was looking for a new coaching opportunity after Paul Mills took over at WSU.
"Coach Mills just came in and I was there, just for a couple of weeks with him, and then he brought in his own staff,'' Jones said.
As it worked out, Ballard was looking for an assistant about the same time after Jonathan Raney's departure.
"After we got let go at Wichita I made a lot of calls, emails,'' Jones said. "I had kind of a mutual connection with coach Ballard. I didn't know him real well, but worked with a guy at Wichita State that had worked with (Ballard) in the past. Coach called me out of the blue and asked if I was interested and I came up to campus that next week and just fell in love with it. That would have probably been the end of May and I started last week.''
Washburn will be Jones' first job as a fulltime assistant and he said he's looking forward to the changes and challenges that come with that position.
"Recruiting's the big one and I think being on the court fulltime and the ability to be on the road fulltime was the biggest draw to me,'' he said. "I've always been kind of support staff at Wichita State so I was scouting, game-planning and player development on the court with the guys The NCCA kind of changed the rules the last couple of years and you could have one additional coach on the floor the last two years so I got to do that and that got me experience.
"But now having the ability to be a fulltime assistant and be on the road recruiting and being on the court every single day with the guys, that was the biggest draw. And then there was coach (Ballard) and his track record and the history of the program. That was kind of what brought me here.''
That, and the very big draw of being able to stay close to home.
"When you're in the basketball industry long enough, if you're trying to climb the ranks you've got to make jumps across the nation,'' Jones said. "And I interviewed at schools in California, Florida, But what drew me here was that it's two hours from home, and my wife (Miranda's) family is an hour and a half west of here (Palmer, Ks.), and that was great.
"I love Northeastern Kansas and I knew the Midwest and wanted to stay in the Midwest. Being a fulltime assistant and being close to home, when this job came open it was a no-brainer and it made too much sense to turn it down.''
