Steady as she goes: Veterans senior Stacie Jones continues to check boxes and achieve goals

Quiet as kept

Temeca Jones knew about the pair of milestones that

her daughter accomplished. The reporter she called on Tuesday morning knew

about them too. Come to think about it, the Lady Warhawks coaching staff had

some idea about those milestones as well. The only person that did not realize

that Veterans High School senior forward Stacie Jones, a Kennesaw State

University commit, reached 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds for her career was

Stacie Jones herself. Described by her mother as a “team-first player,” Jones

has made it a habit of hitting the court (She also played volleyball at

Veterans and is considered a college-level talent) and getting her job done,

whether that be rebound, score or defend the paint. Jones just plays. In fact,

“I was surprised, I just play and if that happens then it happens,” said Jones

of making the 1,000/1,000 club. “At first I didn’t think it was a big deal.” 

Lady Warhawks head coach Nicole Miranda isn’t

surprised that Jones is succeeding at a high level. “She is an unbelievable

athlete, but Stacie is also an all-around great young lady,” said Miranda, who

has coached Jones since she was a freshman. “Stacie is a great student and has

wonderful rapport with her teammates,” said Miranda. “She has learned to play

solid defense and score in multiple ways.”

Jones is averaging just over 11 points and 12

rebounds per game for the 14-2 Lady Warhawks, who moved to 2-0 in region play

Tuesday night after defeating Harris County 40-38 on the road. A lot of that

success has to do with Jones’ ability to adapt to what was a new situation

after moving to Houston County from Ohio four years ago. “I am thankful and

blessed I have had the privilege to coach her for four years and Kennesaw State

University is excited to have her,” said Miranda, who also played Division I

basketball following a stellar high school career in Florida.

Fast times at Veterans High

Those four years have gone by fast for Jones,

someone that admits she didn’t believe she was all that good upon arriving in

Georgia. The family moved to Warner Robins on what seemed like a lark, “I

wanted to live somewhere warm,” joked Temeca, and Jones, her parents and

siblings, including current Lady Warhawks sophomore forward Sydney Jones, who

was in middle school then, moved to middle Georgia not knowing what to expect

from the school system, basketball and volleyball programs and where Jones was

going to attend high school. Asking around, the family settled on Veterans

after hearing how good the school was and how successful the basketball program

under Miranda had been. Temeca sent Miranda an email about her girls during the

summer and then went over to the school to meet Miranda and the coaching staff.

“I didn’t know what to expect, I just jumped into it,” said Jones who started

playing basketball in the seventh grade and was planning to play in high

school. “I was so nervous, all summer I had been going to camp trying to improve

my game.” From her first varsity game Friday against rival Warner Robins, Jones

has been a key to a number of long state playoff runs for the Lady Warhawks

according to her coach. “[Stacie] was an impact player early in her career, but

has grown in her maturity, being able to handle adversity, keeping her

composure and taking over games when needed,” said Miranda. 

Jones’ game has gone from being steady to stellar

and a lot of that has to do with the work ethic she started learning in Ohio

and brought with her to Veterans. Playing on a team with girls she’s grown up

with over the past four years also has helped define her game and style of

play. “I’m very comfortable now and every single day we work extra hard

and that makes it very easy to play,” said Jones of her teammates. Fellow

seniors like Tamia Luckey, Kaitlyn Shepherd and Keliyah Johnson, who Jones said

was one of the first teammates to make her feel at home, along with juniors

Zykeria Jenkins and Ansley Miranda, help make up the nucleus of a squad with

unfinished business to attend to.  

Asked about some team goals that she wants to help

her team get accomplished, Jones was quick with an answer. “One of the biggest

goals we have is to beat Buford [who knocked the Lady Warhawks out of the state

playoffs last year], to get to the Final Four and to try our hardest to win the

state title.”

“I can just play now.”

Making a college choice can be difficult and for

Jones and her family it was, but Kennesaw State’s coaching staff, the school’s

campus and basketball program, made it easier for her to leave her new home for

the north Atlanta suburbs. “We went on a couple campus visits and to a couple

camps but Kennesaw State’s staff made a home visit and that stuck out in our

minds,” said Temeca. 

“The coaching staff gave my family and me the vibe

like they really cared about me and my career after basketball,” said Jones,

who had received interest from SEC programs and schools as far away as the

University of Nevada-Las Vegas (UNLV). Playing a couple hours from home will

give the Jones’ an opportunity to see Stacie play on the college level. The

Owls, who are currently 6-7, 0-2 in the Big South Conference, have three

players on the roster that hail from Georgia and three international players

from Australia, Italy and Romania. Under fourth-year head coach Agnus Berenato,

a member of the Basketball Club of South Jersey Hall of Fame, Rider University

Hall of Fame, Mount St. Mary’s Athletic Hall of Fame and Camden County Sports

Hall of Fame, the program has had two of the last four Atlantic Sun Conference

Freshman of the Year. “They called Stacy, they came to one of her home games,

they actually showed that they cared,” said Temeca about the coaching staff’s

efforts to recruit her daughter. 

The Owls feel like the right next step for Jones.

“I’m glad that Stacie doesn’t have to worry about this decision anymore,” said

her father Todd, who listed Stacie’s ability to run the floor, rebound and her

footwork as the best parts of her game. “Knowing that my daughter has her

schooling taken care of and that I feel like she’s going to be safe is great.”

With just two months of high school regular season

to play, Stacie is equally as happy as her parents to be done with the

recruitment process. “It’s so relieving,” she said. “I’m not stressed about it

anymore. I can just play now.”

Just play and continue adding numbers to her

already impressive tally. Whether she notices it or not.

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