MALVERN — Andre Jones was the Class 5A State Tournament’s Most Valuable Player in 2015, leading Little Rock McClellan to the title during his junior season.
With 31 points, six rebounds and two assists in the 2016 Class 4A state championship game against Baptist Prep, he nearly did the same for Malvern as a senior.
The 6-3 guard, who signed in November to play college basketball for the Little Rock Trojans this fall, moved to the Class 4A school in Hot Spring County just before the school year started, when his mentor took a job in the city, and he moved with him. There, Jones joined a large group of seniors in helping the Leopards to a 31-3 mark and a state runner-up finish.
Jones-Malvern was a good marriage, Leopard coach Chris Meseke said.
“Obviously, if you get a Division I player coming in, it means an awful lot,” he said. “We had seven other seniors. It was my third year (at MHS), and we’d continued to progress. We were expecting to compete for the conference championship, get to regionals and state, but obviously, we wouldn’t have made the run we did without him.”
Jones, who averaged 25.7 points, 7.4 rebounds, 2.9 steals and 2.8 assists per game, is the Tri-Lakes Edition Boys Player of the Year.
The fact that the high-profile transfer didn’t upset the apple cart at Malvern is newsworthy in itself.
“It just shows what type of players we had,” said Meseke, who in his 19-year career took Magnolia to the state final as head coach and was an assistant at Greenwood when the Bulldogs reached the championship game. “Anytime you have a player of his magnitude and a guy who comes in with his game, it can create a lot of animosity. That didn’t happen, No. 1, because Andre has a good personality and is a real humble kid, and No. 2, our kids want to win, and win at a high level.
“Anytime you’re building a team, no matter the situation, it comes down to sacrifice and doing what’s best for the team. Not to say we didn’t have any hardships, but we worked through those.”
They certainly did.
The Leopards lost only to Providence Academy of Rogers in nonconference play, and they had one slip-up in conference at Waldron. They won the 4A-7 conference at 13-1 and took the Class 4A South Regional, knocking off Hamburg, 59-40; Dollarway, 58-54; and Monticello, 62-57.
In the Class 4A State Tournament, played at their fancy new Leopard Center, the Leopards had a first-round bye, then knocked off Riverview, 74-49; and Monticello again, 69-64, to remain unbeaten in their new facility and set up their date with Baptist Prep in the state finals at Bank of the Ozarks Arena in Hot Springs. The Eagles prevailed there, 61-54.
For the season, Jones hit 59 percent from the 2-point range and 38 percent from the 3-point range.
He said he had never heard of Malvern and didn’t know anyone there until his mentor, Ronnie Williford, took the job. Jones said they made the decision for him to move with Williford at the end of the school year last spring but didn’t tell anyone at the school until the end of the summer.
Jones said recently that the move turned out to be a good decision for him.
“All the things that happened with this team, it was probably best,” he said.
Coming from a Class 5A state championship team at McClellan, he admitted to not really knowing what to expect from a Class 4A program that had, for the past few years, been in the shadow of the Lady Leopards, who won back-to-back state titles a few seasons ago.
“They weren’t bad at all,” he said of his assessment of his new team. “The thing I wanted to accomplish the most was to make it to the championship.”
The move was also good for Jones academically. He said he had made straight A’s both semesters, and he thought his cumulative GPA was a 3.0. He said he hopes to study business.
He signed with the Arkansas-Little Rock Trojans in November as they were beginning their magical season, orchestrated by first-year coach Chris Beard, who left for the University of Nevada-Las Vegas before moving to Texas Tech University. Jones said Beard and his top assistant, Wes Flanigan, were among the main reasons he chose the Trojans.
He said he was pleased that Flanigan was picked to replace Beard.
Jones said he was at track practice during the Trojans’ NCAA Tournament opening-round double-overtime upset of Purdue.
“We were in the weight room lifting, and I’d go back in and see what the score was, then go outside to run some more,” he said. “All I was thinking about was, ‘What if I was out there?’ Just thinking about it had me excited.”
His goals for his freshman year?
“I’m just trying to be a big part of the team and contributing where I’m needed — getting us back to the (NCAA) tournament, winning the Sun Belt again, basically everything from this year but more,” he said.
He will head to summer school after graduation, but until then, he remains focused on getting a state championship during this special senior year. He is competing in the 100-, 200- and 400-meter dashes, the 4x400 relay, the high jump and the long jump for the Malvern track team. The 4A-7 District meet is scheduled for this week. The top two finishers in each event there will qualify for the Class 4A state meet.
“Last year, I did the high jump and 400, but I wasn’t into it,” he said. “But this year is my last year. I’ve got to get a championship somewhere. I guess I’ve got to get it in track.”