RILEY STRAW and COLIN PERRY
Managing Editor-elect and Editor in Chief-elect
Head Coach Travis Wells of the Jamestown Community College (JCC) women’s basketball team will never forget the first practice he ever had with Assistant Coach Howard Jones. New to the role and admittedly nervous, Wells got their working relationship off to a great start by announcing him incorrectly to the team as “Howard Johnson.”
“Before I could say another word he corrected me, ‘That’s Jones!’ I think I was more nervous than him,” Wells wrote in an email. “We decided that ‘Coach Hojo’ would do from there: that way I wouldn’t screw up his name. ‘Jones’ is so hard to remember.”
Everybody else who knew him mention a few other qualities: constant professionalism, an intense work ethic, a winning smile and undeniable passion for what he pursued.
Jones, a senior sport management major set to graduate summa cum laude in May, died Friday, April 8 after an accident on March 26, according to Elmira news source My Twin Tiers.
Born in Elmira, New York, he is survived by his mother, Rebecca Jamison; his father, Phillip Jones; his siblings Phillip Jones, Alexis Brooks and Gabrielle Hinton; and his girlfriend of four years, and former Fredonia student, Heather Reynolds.
According to Jamison, he and his younger brother were constantly involved in sports growing up, something that would influence the path he embarked on in life. What he wouldn’t allow to define him were his family’s difficult circumstances.
“We didn’t have a lot of money — we never had a lot of money — and he was able to overcome it. A lot of the people his situation would turn to doing bad things, and he was able to always take care of people,” Jamison said. “He was a leader. He set a good example for how people should live their life.”
Jones first attended Corning Community College for two years before transferring to Fredonia. It was during this time that he tore his ACL, preventing him from playing basketball as much as he had hoped — but he still wouldn’t let that deter him.
“He was goal-oriented. He wanted to get his degree; he wanted to do something in sporting. He wanted to be a coach, and he played a lot of sports as a younger person … He really liked coaching. I think that’s where he really wanted to go to for a career,” Jamison said.
Between the sport management program and the coaching minor at Fredonia, Professor Jason Becker had Jones in several of his classes and says he was one of his favorite students.
“I knew right away how special of a student he was and, more importantly, the professional in the field he was going to be,” Becker said in an email. “In each class he was in, he always was one of the first to participate, making it easier for students to grasp and discuss the material. I was really impressed by his knowledge and professionalism … and was really proud knowing he was ready to enter the field of sport management.”
Assistant Professor Sungick Min also had Jones in several of his courses in the sport management program, including one as recently as last semester, and was his and Reynolds’s former neighbor. Min remembers Jones as a good student who always performed well in his classes, especially with Reynolds by his side.
“He didn’t take notes, but he listened. I think Heather was a good helper. They would make a study guide and find out the answers together,” he said.
Professor Penny Hite also commented on the impact of his personality in the classroom and on Fredonia’s campus.
“He was witty, funny and a true gentleman,” Hite said. “He had an infectious smile and the ability to add meaningful talking points to any class discussion. He was a leader and a great ambassador for our university.”
Becker said one of his highlights of teaching Jones was seeing his work at JCC, which fulfilled an internship requirement for his degree, that made a difference in his life and the lives of the students he mentored.
“It’s a sheer joy to see your students not only excel in the classroom but in the industry as well, and Howard had a wonderful passion and energy for coaching. Howard and I always had great conversations about coaching and I was thrilled when he first told me about this coaching position he received,” Becker said.
Wells could see Jones becoming a head coach in the near future, as he was clearly committed and determined to reaching his goals.
“He knew how to communicate with the players. In the heat of the game, at halftime or postgame, he seemed to say the right things at the right time,” Wells said. “If a player was upset with me, they could go to Howard and he would listen and talk with them.”
While he made an impact on Wells, his coach said that he made just as big an impact on the girls on his team. One of the students he coached, Natalie Houle, a freshman physical education major at JCC, developed a profound connection with Jones.
“He never had nothing to say. He kept us going,” Houle said in an online interview. “When we felt like quitting, he wouldn’t let us. He pushed us to do our best every time we stepped foot onto that court.”
She recalled how he took every member of the team seriously and committed to helping each of them reach their goals. That meant staying longer at practices to personally coach people on the team, teaching team members new moves and shouting, “And one!” from the bench any time a player scored on a foul shot.
“He would jump from the bench and scream it and it just got all of us pumped and want to play harder. It was the simple things, just because he was an amazing coach. He left behind the image of what people are supposed to be like,” Houle said. “If he wanted it, he worked for it. And that’s what I learned from him. That’s how I want to live my life. His whole being and who he was — Howard Jones was the legacy.”
When Jones was around, the air was filled with laughter, Wells recalled. The team he coached will keep the van and bus rides with him close to their hearts.
“He was our biggest supporter, and you could tell he honestly loved every one of us,” Houle said, “and we loved him with all of our hearts.”