Kansas State University Athletics
‘There’s More to Come’
Nov 07, 2024 | Men's Basketball, Sports Extra
By: D. Scott Fritchen
Imagine, if you will, the pathway to how this all began, the "gritty." That's what Max Jones calls growing up in his hometown, Clearwater, Florida, a place where he saw St. Petersburg native Barry Brown Jr., burst on the college scene, a place where basketball is an escape from the doggerel days, and asphalt and open gyms become the sanctuaries of sanity for a young man.
Imagine, if you will, Jones pouring in 1,273 career points at Clearwater High School, taking the Tornadoes to the Class 5A regional final, and earning runner-up for 2020 Class 5A State Player of the Year. He averaged 22.0 points, 8.7 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 2.3 steals and 1.0 blocks as a senior while shooting 54.9% from the floor and 40.2% from 3-point range. He was versatile. He was determined.
"Everyone is trying to make it out and be that guy or provide for their family, and it's very competitive, so it gets very gritty," Jones says in a phone interview. "Florida always has the gritty people, or the dogs, or whatever they say."
The gritty crackles within Jones today, and it assuredly did Tuesday night, as the 6-foot-4, 220-pound senior guard, an elbow skinned, various bruises not yet surfaced, scored 19 points in his debut performance at Kansas State, yet an initial effort that might best be remembered for his feistiness in sacrificing his body as much as for his 4-for-5 stroke from beyond the arc. He punctuated an impressive first half by sinking a 3-pointer, drawing the foul, then rebounding his missed free throw for another basket just before the halftime buzzer in an eventual 89-65 win over New Orleans. In the second half, he stole the ball, drove down the court, and while going strong to the rack, suddenly left the ball behind him for David N'Guessan to catch as the trailer for the flush.
Afterward, Jones sits in his white No. 2 jersey in his first postgame news conference as a member of the Wildcats.
"It's only the first game," he says, "so there's more to come."
What does Jones want K-State fans to know about him?
"I work hard for what I get," he replies.
What has he learned most about himself since his arrival in Manhattan?
"I've learned that I can be very consistent and an everyday guy," he says. "I give my all every day."
On a K-State team that boasts 11 newcomers, each carrying a compelling story, Jones' tale is among the most inspiring. After starring at Clearwater High, he began his college career at Division II Tampa and spent the past two years at Division I Cal State Fullerton. One night he scored 20, another night 30, and once was named Division II National Player of the Week.
Last season, he averaged 13.7 points on 41.5% shooting and 39.0% on 3-pointers with 3.6 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.3 steals in 30 minutes per game. He scored in double figures in 40 of 56 career games with the Titans.
"An overall great experience," Jones says. "During my two years, my skills expanded a lot. I just learned how to play the game better and slow it down."
But what happens when the gritty speeds up? When the pressure is real, and decisions have to be made, and futures are blurred by the great light of uncertainty that shines upon some young men hopeful to amble into the certain? What happens when the young man, who embraces the gritty, must now fight to overcome it? It's not asphalt and open gyms and bus rides and playing in front of 3,500 on a good night. It's 11,000-seat arenas and charter planes and top-25 opponents, high-stakes roundball amid deafening cheers and national TV.
That's the plight, or the opportunity, that greeted Jones when, in search of a brighter future, he inserted his name into the transfer portal on March 11. That's when things started speeding up. He heard from a variety of schools — "I have a list somewhere," he says — but no school proved as prestigious as K-State, which came calling on a Monday. Jones got on a flight. He committed that Thursday.
"I've learned to never stop and just keep going," Jones says during the phone interview. "I feel like a lot of people in my shoes would've stopped at a lower division and never strived to be the best person they can be."
He pauses.
"I'm not even done yet. I'm just getting started."
On his trip to Manhattan, he was aghast at how the K-State coaches waited until 1:45 a.m. to greet him at his hotel, how they spoke with him over breakfast and how they dined at dinner. Although Jones' birthday is April 9, the K-State coaches put on a birthday celebration for Jones while on his trip. Dinner and cakes and candles in downtown Manhattan. They arranged a photo shoot, and they toured Bramlage Coliseum.
"I never thought I'd be in Kansas," he says. "When I went on my visit, it felt like a dream come true — or a dream about to come true."
Jones committed. He texted N'Guessan. He texted Villanova transfer Brendan Hausen, who would become his roommate.
"Coach Tang sees me as a shooter," Jones says prior to the season. "I can get to the paint very well, so over the summer I'm going to work on finishing at the rim. Coach Tang wants me to be a scorer and play really good defense and be a dog out there."
Mission accomplished.
To illustrate the gritty, Tang in his postgame news conference Tuesday night tells a story. He says that he instructed each player to write on a card what he would sacrifice for the team. Jones wrote, "My body."
"Max said, 'I've never been the guy who dove on the floor, and I've always been the scorer,'" Tang says. "It's really cool to see a young man say, 'Hey fellas, I'm going to do this for you guys,' and then go out and do it."
He did it in his debut performance at K-State. He saw things clearly. He shined and he scraped as the ball tickled the net. For as much as the days at Clearwater, at Tampa and at Cal State Fullerton paved way to this moment, Jones is in the infant stages of authoring his next chapter, one exciting and new, with twists and turns yet to be navigated, and victory laps yet to be taken to the glee of sold-out arenas.
Imagine, if you will, the pathway to how this all began, the "gritty."
We saw it in Bramlage.
And Jones is just getting started.
Imagine, if you will, the pathway to how this all began, the "gritty." That's what Max Jones calls growing up in his hometown, Clearwater, Florida, a place where he saw St. Petersburg native Barry Brown Jr., burst on the college scene, a place where basketball is an escape from the doggerel days, and asphalt and open gyms become the sanctuaries of sanity for a young man.
Imagine, if you will, Jones pouring in 1,273 career points at Clearwater High School, taking the Tornadoes to the Class 5A regional final, and earning runner-up for 2020 Class 5A State Player of the Year. He averaged 22.0 points, 8.7 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 2.3 steals and 1.0 blocks as a senior while shooting 54.9% from the floor and 40.2% from 3-point range. He was versatile. He was determined.
"Everyone is trying to make it out and be that guy or provide for their family, and it's very competitive, so it gets very gritty," Jones says in a phone interview. "Florida always has the gritty people, or the dogs, or whatever they say."
The gritty crackles within Jones today, and it assuredly did Tuesday night, as the 6-foot-4, 220-pound senior guard, an elbow skinned, various bruises not yet surfaced, scored 19 points in his debut performance at Kansas State, yet an initial effort that might best be remembered for his feistiness in sacrificing his body as much as for his 4-for-5 stroke from beyond the arc. He punctuated an impressive first half by sinking a 3-pointer, drawing the foul, then rebounding his missed free throw for another basket just before the halftime buzzer in an eventual 89-65 win over New Orleans. In the second half, he stole the ball, drove down the court, and while going strong to the rack, suddenly left the ball behind him for David N'Guessan to catch as the trailer for the flush.
Afterward, Jones sits in his white No. 2 jersey in his first postgame news conference as a member of the Wildcats.
"It's only the first game," he says, "so there's more to come."
What does Jones want K-State fans to know about him?
"I work hard for what I get," he replies.
What has he learned most about himself since his arrival in Manhattan?
"I've learned that I can be very consistent and an everyday guy," he says. "I give my all every day."
On a K-State team that boasts 11 newcomers, each carrying a compelling story, Jones' tale is among the most inspiring. After starring at Clearwater High, he began his college career at Division II Tampa and spent the past two years at Division I Cal State Fullerton. One night he scored 20, another night 30, and once was named Division II National Player of the Week.
Last season, he averaged 13.7 points on 41.5% shooting and 39.0% on 3-pointers with 3.6 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.3 steals in 30 minutes per game. He scored in double figures in 40 of 56 career games with the Titans.
"An overall great experience," Jones says. "During my two years, my skills expanded a lot. I just learned how to play the game better and slow it down."
But what happens when the gritty speeds up? When the pressure is real, and decisions have to be made, and futures are blurred by the great light of uncertainty that shines upon some young men hopeful to amble into the certain? What happens when the young man, who embraces the gritty, must now fight to overcome it? It's not asphalt and open gyms and bus rides and playing in front of 3,500 on a good night. It's 11,000-seat arenas and charter planes and top-25 opponents, high-stakes roundball amid deafening cheers and national TV.
That's the plight, or the opportunity, that greeted Jones when, in search of a brighter future, he inserted his name into the transfer portal on March 11. That's when things started speeding up. He heard from a variety of schools — "I have a list somewhere," he says — but no school proved as prestigious as K-State, which came calling on a Monday. Jones got on a flight. He committed that Thursday.
"I've learned to never stop and just keep going," Jones says during the phone interview. "I feel like a lot of people in my shoes would've stopped at a lower division and never strived to be the best person they can be."
He pauses.
"I'm not even done yet. I'm just getting started."
On his trip to Manhattan, he was aghast at how the K-State coaches waited until 1:45 a.m. to greet him at his hotel, how they spoke with him over breakfast and how they dined at dinner. Although Jones' birthday is April 9, the K-State coaches put on a birthday celebration for Jones while on his trip. Dinner and cakes and candles in downtown Manhattan. They arranged a photo shoot, and they toured Bramlage Coliseum.
"I never thought I'd be in Kansas," he says. "When I went on my visit, it felt like a dream come true — or a dream about to come true."
Jones committed. He texted N'Guessan. He texted Villanova transfer Brendan Hausen, who would become his roommate.
"Coach Tang sees me as a shooter," Jones says prior to the season. "I can get to the paint very well, so over the summer I'm going to work on finishing at the rim. Coach Tang wants me to be a scorer and play really good defense and be a dog out there."
Mission accomplished.
To illustrate the gritty, Tang in his postgame news conference Tuesday night tells a story. He says that he instructed each player to write on a card what he would sacrifice for the team. Jones wrote, "My body."
"Max said, 'I've never been the guy who dove on the floor, and I've always been the scorer,'" Tang says. "It's really cool to see a young man say, 'Hey fellas, I'm going to do this for you guys,' and then go out and do it."
He did it in his debut performance at K-State. He saw things clearly. He shined and he scraped as the ball tickled the net. For as much as the days at Clearwater, at Tampa and at Cal State Fullerton paved way to this moment, Jones is in the infant stages of authoring his next chapter, one exciting and new, with twists and turns yet to be navigated, and victory laps yet to be taken to the glee of sold-out arenas.
Imagine, if you will, the pathway to how this all began, the "gritty."
We saw it in Bramlage.
And Jones is just getting started.
Players Mentioned
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