There is an imaginary wall rookies and freshmen describe, a level of mental or physical exhaustion difficult to get by at a point in their first season.
Personal losses made it feel unmovable for St. John’s forward Christian Jones, like brick.
A surprising starter coming out of the preseason, the 6-foot-7 Texan’s minutes dwindled late in the non-conference schedule and he did not play four consecutive games as St. John’s began Big East play at the turn of the new year.
There were a variety of reasons for his abrupt disappearance, at the forefront was the tragic loss of two friends in automobile accidents five weeks apart back in Texas.
The day before Thanksgiving, Lokuekim “Jessy” Kipasa, 18, a childhood friend of Jones’ and the younger brother of close friend Parfait Kipasa, was lost in a roll-over crash in Grand Prairie, Texas, according to WFAA.com. On New Year’s Day, 21-year-old Sarah Habala, Jones’ high-school friend, lost her life in a single-vehicle accident in Arlington, Jones’ hometown, CBSDFW.com reported.
“I didn’t know what to do,” the soft-spoken Jones said as he struggled to express his emotions. “When I first found out, I was in tears.”
He considered going back home to Texas, but basketball kept him in Queens, even as his minutes disappeared and his confidence dropped.
“It affected my game a lot,” he said.
Before the losses, Jones was struggling to maintain his level of play with all of the demands a Division I athlete faces, from academic responsibilities to daily team duties, such as practices and film study.
“It’s already tough enough, and then this happens,” he said.
Jones finally got back on the floor on Wednesday, as St. John’s snapped a two-game losing streak with a 67-63 win over No. 20 Notre Dame. Jones played eight minutes, scored two points, grabbed two rebounds and added a steal and an assist.
St. John’s coach Steve Lavin called upon him after two standout practices that reminded the coach of the preseason when Jones forced his way into the starting lineup with his aggression and productivity around the hoop and off the glass.
Jones credited the coaching staff and his teammates, namely Sir’Dominic Pointer and God’s Gift Achiuwa, for supporting him during the ongoing trying time in his life. Pointer said he was there for him to talk, but also that the team needed him to bounce back. Achiuwa, a senior who is red-shirting, said he hit a similar wall last year after a fast start. The first step back was remembering how he began the year in practice.
“When I think about basketball more, it lessens what happened,” Jones said. “When Dom tells me to keep focused, go hard in practice, it helps me think less about what happened. When somebody is talking to me, telling me to keep going, pushing me, [it feels like] I’m not alone in the corner by myself trying to go through it.”
Jones thinks about his two friends often and speaks with Parfait Kipasa frequently, though he tries to avoid the many memories he shared with his deceased friends when he’s on the court. He’s focused on getting back to where he was, as a significant contributor for the young Red Storm.
The first step, he said, is to remain humble and excel in practice as he did in October and November. “Little things, really,” he said.
Jones was productive in practice again yesterday, Lavin said, and he plans to use him tomorrow against DePaul. That wall doesn’t seem to so impenetrable anymore.
“We’re hoping that he has gotten to the other side of that and has gotten a second wind, and will be able to contribute and help our cause,” Lavin said.