VATECH HOOPS SIGNED A GOOD ONE ... AND THAT'S AS SINCERE AS IT GETS

Frankly, I haven’t kept up with Virginia Tech 

basketball … so I’m not sure why the Hokies are 

having a down season … but one thing is for sure:

they made a great choice in signing Churchland High 

School’s SINCERE JONES for the class of 2025 … 

I know, I know … being virtually unstoppable in 

high school doesn’t necessarily translate into 

undergraduate phenom or, for that matter, four-year 

starter. Still, based on what he did Tuesday night, 

virtually a one-man gang against Atlee High in the 

quarterfinals of the state tournament, Jones qualifies 

as the real deal.

Against a team that obviously was better (and won 

63-54 on its home floor), the 6-7, 200-pound player 

his coach calls “distinctly different,” scored 28 

points and left Atlee senior KNOX AXSELLE, 

assigned the unenviable chore of going one on one 

defensively with Jones, admitting … “He’s the best 

I’ve faced in high school.”

This was coach MIKE HOLLAND’s eighth season 

at Portsmouth-based Churchland. Mention Jones is a 

once-in-a-lifetime player, and Holland, 41, rolls his 

eyes ... in other words, tell me something I don’t 

know. So what makes Jones different, I mean, really.

“He’s a great kid. Good student, 3.2 GPA. Works 

hard. Always in the gym,” Holland said, warming up 

before zeroing in. “He never gets in trouble, NEVER! 

and you know … man, it’s hard to find a kid like that 

any more.”

Well, there’s no question Jones was all kinds of 

capital-T trouble for the Raiders … despite siccing 

their best defensive player (the son of Atlee coach

 RALLY AXSELLE) on him and double- even at 

times triple-teaming him. Named first-team all-

district, Knox Axselle stayed with Jones, kept a body 

on him, fouling him more often than the game 

officials were willing to call, and Jones simply 

shrugged it off.

“I’m the best player, so I can’t let them get to me,” 

Jones said. “I want to act like I’ve been there 

before.”

By now he’s pretty much used to rivals doing 

whatever it takes to stop the player his coach says, 

“Does it all for us.” Occasionally Tuesday, Jones 

would complain but not loud enough to draw 

additional attention. Jones lets Holland and his 

assistants work the officials … like it will do a whole 

lot of good.

Many of his field goals were the result of going 

straight up, simply jumping higher than his would-be 

defenders, to launch shots – some from well beyond 

the arc -- that found (cliché alert) nothing but net.

“I stayed on his chest, right in his face … and it 

didn’t matter,” Knox Axselle, 6-5, said.

Not that Jones was perfect. The longer the game 

went it was only natural that, being the object of 

such intensity, that he would prove himself human 

… and once-beaten Atlee, winner of 24 (the last 15 

in a row) with Lynchburg’s E.C. Glass next, 

gradually pulled way.

At Tech, Jones figures to be used at shooting guard 

or small forward although he’s versatile enough to 

line up anywhere. He chose the Hokies over eight 

other DI schools -- among them VCU, Mississippi 

State and Old Dominion – because “I wanted to play 

in the ACC.”

He committed to Tech in June of 2024 and took 

some heat for announcing his decision so early. “The 

way the transfer portal is, you play a waiting game 

and they’ll get someone else,” said Holland, who has 

coached Jones since he was 10 and was totally 

involved with his decision.

Perhaps the best thing about Jones, noted Holland, 

“is that he is so humble. Man, he wakes up every 

morning at six … and comes in to work out. Goes to 

class. Comes back to the gym and stays until seven.”

Tell Jones it all makes him sound like something of a 

nerd – humble, never in trouble, a B-plus average in 

the classroom – and he is not offended … either that 

or he doesn’t let on. 

In fact, the only time during a brief post-game 

interview that he raised his voice in brief protest was 

when we brought up his NIL payment … a luxury 

now afforded by all major-conference basketball and 

football athletes.

“I’M NOT GOING TO TALK ABOUT THAT,” he 

said. Oops!

Moving right along … Holland could have added 

Jones could never be described as a “gunner.” He 

spent as much time (maybe more) trying to set up 

teammates for good shots as he did for himself.

Had Jones been more selfish, who knows? This was 

not Atlee at its best. Normally very good at the foul 

line, the Raiders missed eight. Making simple layups 

also proved a problem for the state’s 18th-ranked 

team.

OK, kid, before we let you go … about the given 

name. It can’t possibly be for real, or is it? This time 

one of the light jabs brought a smile.

“My grandmother did it,” Jones said. “Why? I don’t 

know. Really, I don’t.”

Until next time ...