How Sacramento Kings rookie Colby Jones carved a path from Birmingham, Alabama to the NBA

Colby Jones had a stomach bug and couldn’t keep food down. He was getting IVs to stay hydrated while staying in bed, hoping he could play the following night against Big East rival Seton Hall in the third conference game of the season.

But not much was helping the junior at Xavier. Jones struggled to get through a shootaround before the Dec. 20 game, leaving his coaches to think he would sit out to let the nausea subside.

“I was pretty down bad,” Jones said in an interview with The Sacramento Bee. “I really wanted to play because I was the leader of the team. I was one of the guys where (my teammates) would see what I was doing and just carry that throughout the season to just make our team tougher.”

Jones wound up playing through his illness and continued to throw up at halftime. His nausea would kick in when he sat on the bench, but playing basketball helped keep his mind off it. His competitive nature kicked in and served as a welcomed distraction.

The result: 16 points, eight rebounds, six assists, three blocks and a steal. Xavier won, 73-70, and Jones moved his feet to prevent Seton Hall’s Kadary Richmond from scoring while it was a one-point game in the final minute. Richmond turned the ball over because he couldn’t get around Jones to the rim. The ball slipped out of his hands.

“That’s who Colby Jones is,” Xavier assistant coach Adam Cohen said in a phone interview. “You’re gonna know what you’re gonna get. You’re gonna get his best, no matter if he’s sick, hurt. You’re just gonna get the best out of him — and he’s going to continue to grow because he has the kind of mindset where he can keep improving. He knows he can keep getting better.”

Jones will take another important step in that process as a member of Sacramento’s summer league team. The Kings will play the Golden State Warriors on Monday and the Miami Heat on Wednesday in the California Classic at Golden 1 Center before continuing on to the Las Vegas Summer League.

Jones helped Xavier to a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament and a run to the Sweet 16. He finished the season averaging 15.0 points, 5.7 rebounds and a team-leading 4.4 assists while often guarding the opponents’ best player.

He shot just 29.2% from 3-point range as a sophomore and knew he needed to improve if he wanted to make it to the NBA. He emphasized his footwork and shooting technique to hit a respectable 38% from distance during his final college season.

“He’s really smart on defense, blessed and physical,” Xavier head coach Sean Miller said. “And I think Mike Brown and the Kings will really enjoy him as a rookie on offense and defense.”

The Kings traded up four spots in the second round of the NBA draft to take Jones with the 34th overall pick, hoping his intangibles and work ethic will help him develop into a core rotation player as Sacramento looks to improve on last year’s historic playoff run that flamed out in the first round.

“He’s not somebody that’s been a high school McDonald’s All-American or maybe that anointed one since he’s been 12-years-old,” Miller said. “He’s really somebody who’s been self made, has worked his way into becoming an NBA draft pick.”

From Birmingham to Xavier

Jones went to Mountain Brook High School just outside of Birmingham, Alabama. He was recruited to Ivy League schools and took official visits to Harvard and Yale before later deciding to attend Xavier in Cincinnati.

“That was before I was getting high major offers,” Jones said. “So I was really considering Harvard and Yale ... you can’t not pay attention to them.”

Jones played in high-level games in high school. He was teammates with Trendon Watford, who spent two seasons with the Portland Trailblazers before he was recently released. Their high school careers apexed with a victory over eventual national champion IMG Academy of Florida at the 2018 City of Palms Classic, a national tournament in Fort Meyers, Florida that featured some of the country’s top teams.

“The thing that was amazing with Colby is how much he improved,” said Bucky McMillan, who coached Jones in high school. “He’s obviously a great player, but he got so much better through the years. That’s a tribute to how hard he works and how humble he is.

“One of the things that really helps Colby is he knows who he is. He doesn’t try to be anything other than who he is. And he’s very comfortable with who he is.”

McMillan, who now coaches at Samford University in Texas, said Jones averaged 12 to 13 points per game as a junior while Watford handled most of the scoring. Jones was known for doing the other things, like passing, rebounding and playing defense as he grew into his 6-foot-6 frame.

And as a senior, when Watford left for LSU, Jones increased his scoring to over 20 points per game and led a team with no other Division I players to a top-20 ranking nationally.

“So he could play either role,” McMillan said. “He could play a secondary role or he could play a primary role. He doesn’t care. He’s going to do whatever is necessary to win.”

McMillan said one of Jones’ most impressive traits was his ability to digest scouting reports defensively, which likely isn’t lost on the Kings and Brown. McMillan said he told former Xavier coach Travis Steele, who recruited Jones before being replaced by Miller, that Jones would be Xavier’s smartest defender as a freshman. Now, Jones has reached the NBA, in part, due to his intensity at that end of the floor.

How Jones fits with Kings

Observers have compared Jones to former Kings guard Donte DiVincenzo and New York Knicks guard Josh Hart, who are both known for doing dirty work like defending and rebounding.

Sacramento, of course, wasn’t known for its defense during the regular season last year and finished ranked 24th in defensive efficiency during the regular season. That number over seven playoff games against Golden State improved from 116 to 111.6, seventh among the 16 playoff teams.

With guard Terence Davis hitting unrestricted free agency, his spot could be opened up for Jones should the rookie prove worthy with strong defense and offensive versatility. The Kings liked Davis for his microwave scoring, but his uneven defense and attention to detail kept his spot in the rotation unstable. Sacramento is hoping Jones could step in and become someone who could crack the playoff rotation.

“I think with Colby, especially as we watch the playoffs, the guys that are versatile and can do a lot of different things on the floor, because you don’t know what’s going to be thrown at you,” Kings general manager Monte McNair said. “Colby showed that at Xavier through his three years, especially this year as he took on a bigger role. I have no doubt that he’ll be able to figure that out at the next level.”