STARKVILLE – Typically, a high school basketball player can seek out a teammate or coach when words of encouragement or needed.
Starkville High School senior Kelsey Jones had another unique option. Jones’ older brother Kobe Jones just finished his freshman year as a football player at Mississippi State University.
While Kelsey Jones excelled on the basketball court earning numerous all-tournament and all-state honors, the biggest push from her brother came behind the scenes and off the court.
“The biggest thing he always said was to keep my grades up,” Kelsey Jones said. “Whenever I was about to slip, he always there to encourage me and pick me up. It’s good to have someone at home that has your back and is always pushing you to do a little more.
“The biggest thing he did for me was helping influence good decisions. He told me to work hard in basketball but also to work hard in class. If you do that everything will take care of itself.”
Jones averaged 15 points and 10 rebounds per game this past season. She helped lead Starkville to a 31-1 overall record and the program’s first appearance in the Mississippi High School Activities Association (MHSAA) Class 6A state championship game for the first time since the 1992 SHS squad won the Class 4A title.
For this success, the 6-foot-3 center is being chosen today as The Dispatch’s Large School Prep Basketball Player of the Year for a third straight season.
“Kelsey Jones has embodied everything about our program the last three years,” Williams said. “Basketball came natural to her. She had the speed and the athleticism. She hard to learn the nuisances of the game. She also learned how to become a leader.
“Once she got the leadership role down, the team really took over. You can’t win with one player. One player can be the start of trying to build something. To be able to work together, play together and build this thing together, that has been rewarding. Kelsey really embraced the role of making everyone on her team play that much better.”
As her coach indicated, Jones size and athleticism always made her a top player on her team. An inability to gain a large amount of playing time her freshman season made Jones up her commitment to the game.
“Really it was my sophomore year where things took off,” Jones said. “I realized that I was going to get out of this what I put into it. When you want to fit in and contribute and you can’t do that, it gets frustrating. I knew that I had to work harder and prove that I could help the team. After given a couple of opportunities (in her sophomore season), things got better.
“Since the team was winning, you really had to pull your weight to be able to play.
Jones became the focal point of the Starkville offense. In turn, the Lady Jackets began to not only win games, they began to win games that mattered.
In her final three seasons, Starkville combined to win 82 games. The Lady Jackets lost in the MHSAA Class 6A semifinal round twice (in 2015 and 2016) and in the finals once (in 2017) with Jones in uniform.
She was the lone senior on this year’s squad.
“Really there are no regrets,” Jones said. “That is what I learned from Coach Williams. She challenged us every day to be the best we can be. She challenged us not to take a day off in the weight room or in the classroom or on the practice court. We gave it our all.
“There is disappointment that you didn’t win a state championship. There is no regret. It just wasn’t meant to be. Life moves on. You have to learn from the adversity and help it make you a better person. I am going to be the biggest fan of this program now because they are really close. They are going to win the championship rather sooner than later.”
Jones provided the offensive and rebounding punch for the Lady Jackets for quite some time. As teams began to game plan for her athleticism and large wing span, it was up to the players to contribute. The ability to create an inside-outside game proved huge on the rare nights where the other team had a good personnel matchup or Jones had foul trouble.
“Kelsey was really the spark for us,” Starkville junior Jariyah Covington said. “The biggest challenge was for other players to raise their game. Kelsey really did a great job of helping each of us become better. Since she was the only senior, we didn’t have a lot of senior leaders. I think that helped this team grow up.
“We all had to contribute on offense. We all had to play on defense. In some ways, we all had to provide some leadership. We worked well together on the court and that is why we had success.”
Despite being one of the state’s top recruits, Jones is still undecided on her college choice. Watching Kobe Jones go through the recruitment process in football has helped her understand all of the angles.
“Being there with him really helped me a lot,” Jones said. “I have gotten good advice from a lot of people. I am excited about what happens next.”
Follow Dispatch sports writer Scott Walters on Twitter @dispatchscott
Scott was sports editor for The Dispatch.
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