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Q & A: Verdell Jones talks pro career, reflects on time at IU

by Alex Bozich in Former Hoosiers | June 6th, 2012

The highly touted 2012 recruiting class is expected to arrive in Bloomington to join a program many have projected to be the nation’s best next winter. The five 2012 signees will replace an outgoing group who came to IU at its bottom in the summer of 2008 and helped lead the Hoosiers all the way back to the Sweet 16 in March.

One of the key members of that group was Verdell Jones, a four-year starter who saw his senior season end abruptly in the Big Ten Tournament with an ACL tear in a win over Penn State.

Inside the Hall caught up with the Champaign, Illinois native on Wednesday for an update on his rehab, his plans to pursue a professional career and much more:

On what he’s been doing since graduation last month and how things are progressing with rehab:

“I hired an agent. Jared Hodges from WSMG. I was cleared last week to do more on the court stuff. I can do some light cutting now, I can do a lot more basketball stuff, a lot more shooting stuff, ball handling up and down. Nothing too vigorous. I can stairmaster, I can do elliptical, stuff like that. I’ve been cleared to do weight lifts, so now I’m just doing that almost every day. I’m doing a lot of basketball work with my dad almost every day. I haven’t felt pain in a while. The doctor said last week I was a couple weeks ahead of schedule, which is good. I’m going to keep working.”

On when he expects to be 100 percent and on his plans to pursue a professional career:

“The doctor said that I would probably be almost 100 percent by late September. As far as working out for teams, working out for overseas or NBA teams, I can probably start doing that in August. I missed a lot of the training camps and different camps that the NBA teams and overseas teams watch, but I hired a great agent and a lot of teams are waiting to see what happens with my knee. Every kid’s goal is to play in the NBA, but I have no problem playing overseas.”

On leaving Bloomington and getting back home and getting a chance to work out with his father and brother:

“It’s mixed feelings. I definitely miss the guys at IU. I loved working out with them. But it feels really good to be back with my dad. I feel like he was the guy who made me the high school player I was and allowed me the opportunity to go to IU. It feels real good. My dad, he knows a lot of my strengths and weaknesses. We’ve been trying to work on my outside shot, watching games. And my brother (Clayton), he’s trying to pursue his dreams, too.”

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Zeller: “I’m just not ready to grow up yet”

by Justin Albers in Media | April 26th, 2012

Cody Zeller just isn’t ready to leave Bloomington.

Addressing the media for the first time since he announced he would return to Indiana for his sophomore year, Zeller said this year wasn’t the right time for him to make the jump to the NBA.

“It’s a tough process. I mean, it’s a lot of money,” Zeller said. “I’m just not ready to grow up yet. Paying rent, getting a house, becoming an adult — I’m not ready for all that. I’m enjoying my college career, on and off the court. I’m definitely happy to be here.”

Christian Watford, who also explored his NBA options before deciding to return for his senior season, said he’s excited about playing with the Hoosiers’ highly-rated recruiting class coming in next season.

Watford has been “resting” during the early weeks of the offseason because of a heel injury he played with throughout the season. He had a walking boot on his left foot at the team’s awards celebration Thursday night.

“I just wanted to come back and be a part of this team,” Watford said. “I feel like we can do some great things this next year and help build from right where we left off.”

Jones not ready for career to end

Senior guard Verdell Jones, who missed the NCAA tournament after tearing his ACL during the Big Ten tournament, said Thursday his surgery went “very well” and he is currently working on rehab.

“It was painful the first week after, I couldn’t walk at all,” Jones said. “Slowly but surely it’s gotten better. I’m currently off the crutches, I can walk a little bit. It’s still a little painful when I walk.”

Jones also said he plans to hire an agent “in the next week or so,” and attempt to play professional basketball overseas in Europe.

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Tags: Christian Watford, Cody Zeller, Verdell Jones

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HD Video: Hulls, Jones, Watford and Zeller after awards celebration

by Justin Albers in Video | April 26th, 2012

Christian Watford, Cody Zeller, Jordan Hulls and Verdell Jones met with the media following Indiana’s awards celebration at Assembly Hall on Thursday night. Jones discussed his rehab and plans for the future and Watford and Zeller discussed their decisions to return to Bloomington next season.

Watch and listen to their comments in the embedded media players below:

Tags: Christian Watford, Cody Zeller, Jordan Hulls, Verdell Jones

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Verdell Jones III undergoes successful knee surgery

by Staff in Media | March 30th, 2012

Per a release from Methodist Sports Medicine, Indiana senior guard Verdell Jones III underwent successful knee surgery to repair a torn right ACL on Friday. Jones suffered the injury in Indiana’s 75-58 win over Penn State in the Big Ten Tournament on Mar. 8.

Here’s the full release:

Indianapolis, Ind. – March 30, 2012 – Indiana University senior point guard Verdell Jones, III underwent successful surgery to reconstruct a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee.

The surgery was performed by Thomas Klootwyk, MD of Methodist Sports Medicine / The Orthopedic Specialists in Indianapolis. Jones sustained the season ending injury during the first round of the Big Ten Men’s Basketball Tournament in Indianapolis March 8.

Jones, who will graduate this spring, was a key member of the rebuilding process of the IU basketball program and helped the Hoosiers to their first NCAA tournament berth in four seasons.

About Methodist Sports Medicine / The Orthopedic Specialists Methodist Sports Medicine / The Orthopedic Specialists, a partner of Indiana University Health, is Central Indiana’s premier provider of comprehensive orthopedic services and has built its reputation on excellence in orthopedics and sports medicine for more than 25 years. Official team physicians for many high schools, college and professional teams, including the NFL’s Indianapolis Colts, 100 percent of the group’s orthopedic surgeons are fellowship trained, board certified and leaders in new technologies, procedures and research. For more information, please visit www.methodistsports.com.

Jones averaged 7.5 points, 3.2 assists and 2.9 rebounds in 24.5 minutes per game in his final season for the Hoosiers.

(HT: The Hoosier Scoop)

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That’s A Wrap: Verdell Jones III

by Alex Bozich in Commentary | March 28th, 2012

Welcome to “That’s A Wrap,” our player-by-player recap of the 2011-2012 Indiana Hoosiers. Today: Verdell Jones. Editor’s note: Read our senior day feature on Jones here.

Final stats (30 games): 7.5 ppg, 3.2 apg, 2.9 rpg, 41.9% FG, 75.5% FT in 24.5 minutes per game.

No player in recent IU basketball history has been debated, discussed and dissected quite like Verdell Jones.

Coming into his final season in Bloomington, there was an argument to be made that the Hoosiers would be better off shifting Jones into a lesser role within the offense. And that’s exactly what happened.

During his first three seasons, Jones used over a quarter of the IU’s possessions and played at least 61.4% or more of the available minutes at his position. As a senior, his percentage of possessions used dipped to 21.6 and his percentage of minutes played fell to 51.0.

The diminished offensive role was beneficial to both Jones, who was able to shift into more of a playmaker rather than a scorer, and the Hoosiers, who re-distributed his shots to more efficient options.

While his efficiency numbers might not bear it out in every category, the Champaign, Il. native played his best basketball in his final season. His defense, particularly on the ball, improved immensely. He made clutch shots late in wins at Assembly Hall over Michigan and Northwestern. And he delivered a pass to Christian Watford to set up the shot that beat No. 1 Kentucky.

Rather than listening to message board debates on whether he should remain in the starting lineup or the boos that rang down on him in IU’s home loss to Minnesota, Jones used the doubt as motivation to continue improving.

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Notebook: VCU the same team in name only

by Justin Albers in Media | March 17th, 2012

PORTLAND, Ore. — Virginia Commonwealth forward Bradford Burgess was asked Friday to compare this year’s VCU team to the one that made the Final Four last season.

“Really, the only similarity is the name on the jersey,” Burgess said.

Last year VCU team was senior-laden and had plenty of guys who could score. That team was led by guys like Jamie Skeen, Joey Rodriguez and Brandon Rozzell, all of whom graduated after the Final Four run.

This is simply not the same VCU team. But that doesn’t mean its one that’s any less dangerous.

The scorers are gone, so the Rams rely on their defense — their HAVOC defense. They press, they trap, they chase. Basically, they cause havoc, and lots of it.

“We didn’t focus as much as we needed to on the defensive end [last year],” Burgess said. “We tried to almost outscore teams sometimes, and that hurt us.”

Added VCU coach Shaka Smart: “We have our stretches where we score really well, where we shoot really well. But we depend on our pressure defense. We depend on our ability to stop teams in the half court.”

The HAVOC defense, as Ryan Corazza analyzed in his post yesterday, features athletic guys who relentlessly pursue the ball and do their best to get the opponent out of their offense. If they can’t create turnovers, the Rams want to speed the other team up and force them to play at a pace they are uncomfortable playing at.

Indiana coach Tom Crean said he’s been having his team play against seven pressing defenders to attempt to simulate what his players will see Saturday night against VCU.

Lots of teams press, but few do it better than the Rams.

“It’s their length,” Crean said. “And they do an excellent job of pushing you in a spot. Their traps are really hard nosed, they close their traps. … You’ve got to do a great job of catching the ball where you want to catch it. Your fundamentals really come into play, getting the ball out in front, reversing the basketball, head up.”

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Jones can help Hoosiers by teaching Abell

by Justin Albers in Media | March 14th, 2012

It’s hard not to feel sorry for Verdell Jones. After four years of hard work and sacrifice, the senior guard won’t get to play when Indiana opens the NCAA Tournament against New Mexico State on Thursday night.

It’s not fair.

But beyond the sympathy surrounding Jones’ torn ACL, there’s a sizable void left on the Hoosiers roster. Jones not only gave the Hoosiers 7.5 points and 3.2 assists per game off the bench, but he was also one of their most experienced on-court leader.

The Hoosiers don’t lack depth behind Jones, but they do lack experienced depth. Freshman Remy Abell figures to get most of Jones’ minutes in the Big Dance, and senior Daniel Moore is next in line.

While Abell has played well at times this season, he’s occasionally shown freshman inconsistency. His best game came at Purdue in early February when Jones was out with a shoulder injury. In that contest, Abell scored 13 points on 5-of-6 shooting, including a dagger 3-pointer late that put the Boilermakers away. Abell hasn’t been in double figures in any other game, and he’s averaging only 2.8 points per contest.

Still, the Hoosiers have faith Abell can play a role in their postseason run.

“Remy’s capable, and Verdell’s gotta help him,” Indiana coach Tom Crean said Sunday. “We’re very confident with Remy. You don’t anticipate not having Verdell until the other day, but you figure having depth at the guard spot is gonna be really good for you.”

While Jones won’t be able to help the Hoosiers on the court in the tournament, he can contribute by, as Crean said, helping Abell. Jones and Abell room together for road games, and Jones said he’s in the ear of his understudy as much as possible.

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Tags: 2012 NCAA Tournament, Remy Abell, Verdell Jones

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