Print
E-mail
Comment
Rate
Walk of Famer Jones happy to be home with Pam Pack
By KEVIN TRAVIS, Sports Editor
Allison Jones has returned to the same basketball court where she had so much success as a high school player.
Jones, who was elected to the Walk of Fame in 2003, was recently hired as the Washington Pam Pack girls basketball coach. The former Allison Bron is a 1991 graduate of WHS.
“It’s nice to be a member of the Pam Pack family again,” Jones said. “You see that navy blue and white and you step into that gym and it’s just great.”
Jones was the Washington Daily News Girls' Basketball Player of the Year in 1991. She earned the team's Most Valuable Player award her senior season after averaging 17 points, 9.5 rebounds, five steals and four assists per game.
Jones, who earned four letters in basketball, averaged 10 points and five rebounds her sophomore season, before increasing that to 14 points and seven rebounds as a junior.
Jones, who had previous coaching stints at West Craven, Fuquay-Varina and D.H. Conley, said it was special to hold her first practice inside the same gym where she became a star.
“It felt good,” said Jones, who earned a co-Coach of the Year award from the New Bern Sun Journal in 2002. “It’s where my memories are from high school sports. I was fortunate to have those good experiences and I was lucky enough to play for the same coach for four years. I was lucky to have great teammates.
“There’s no one little part that goes into whether you’re successful or not. There are so many aspects to it.”
Jones, who played for Donald Gibbs in her four years at Washington, is excited about her new position. She already has the Pam Pack off to a 2-0 start, just one win shy of the team’s win total (3-20 overall, 1-13 in Coastal Conference play) from last year.
The Pack won the Northside Tip-Off Classic championship to start the season.
“I just really look forward to working with this group of girls,” said Jones, who is married to former Pam Pack football player Brian Jones and the mother of two. “We’re off to a decent start. We have a lot to work on, but the girls are willing. That’s all I can ask right now.”
Jones, the daughter of Gary and Linda Bron, is basically taking a starting-from-scratch approach with the season.
“I wanted to give them the beginnings of a system to work within,” Jones said. “I think this team has some talent. Some position players are skilled. I think they needed some boundaries and just some structure to play within to give that talent some place to go.
“They’ve had a lot to adjust to with me. I put a lot on them in the seven or eight days we practiced before the tournament. I hope that as the season goes on, the framework that I’ve provided will just be the springboard for what we can do as a team.”
Jones, who earned Class 3-A Colonial All-Conference selection three straight seasons, led the Pam Pack to a 71-28 record during her playing days. That included two sectional final appearances, one conference championship and three second-place finishes.
Jones said part of her success came because of discipline, which is something she wants her players to have this year.
“I believe in being disciplined,” Jones said. “I believe in fundamentals and I believe in teamwork. Those were always stressed when I played in high school ball and college ball. If you look at successful groups, those key things will always be there.
“If you are an unselfish teammate, good things will happen. I hope the kids can pick up on that and I hope to have a lot of fun along the way. That’s just part of it.”
The first-year coach and former standout at Elon College (now Elon University), where she graduated in 1995, plans to stress fundamentals throughout the season.
“The one thing that is consistent with all the teams that I’ve worked with is fundamentals,” said Jones, who averaged 14.0 points and earned a Coach’s Award her senior season. “The first part of every practice is fundamentals. I think that’s critical to build a program on. We are working on that here.
“A lot of the detail part of basketball is what we’re focusing on. You look at your personnel and you’re able to do different things depending on who you’ve got playing on your team, who’s on the floor at that moment, and I try to have a little bit for everybody. This team likes to be able to go a little bit so I’m trying to provide them with the structure to do that.”
Jones, who has a Masters Degree in Sports Administration from East Carolina University, will return to the court Tuesday when the Pam Pack plays at Williamston High School. Washington will play at Northside Friday before playing its home opener Dec. 4 against Williamston.
While Jones is excited about her first home game, she’s not looking ahead -- the same approach her team has taken this year.
“We really haven’t looked very far down the road,” Jones said. “Right now we’re trying, every day when we hit the court, to get better in some way; everybody gets better in some way. I hope that pays off for us down the road.
“It’s just going to be a fight every night. I’m glad that we have a couple of wins under our belts. I hope that winning is contagious enough and they’ll start to expect that from themselves as we build, but we need to build every day. I think these girls expect to win some. I think that they believe in themselves and I think they believe in each other.”
Jones, who was elected to the Walk of Fame in 2003, was recently hired as the Washington Pam Pack girls basketball coach. The former Allison Bron is a 1991 graduate of WHS.
“It’s nice to be a member of the Pam Pack family again,” Jones said. “You see that navy blue and white and you step into that gym and it’s just great.”
Jones was the Washington Daily News Girls' Basketball Player of the Year in 1991. She earned the team's Most Valuable Player award her senior season after averaging 17 points, 9.5 rebounds, five steals and four assists per game.
Jones, who earned four letters in basketball, averaged 10 points and five rebounds her sophomore season, before increasing that to 14 points and seven rebounds as a junior.
Jones, who had previous coaching stints at West Craven, Fuquay-Varina and D.H. Conley, said it was special to hold her first practice inside the same gym where she became a star.
“It felt good,” said Jones, who earned a co-Coach of the Year award from the New Bern Sun Journal in 2002. “It’s where my memories are from high school sports. I was fortunate to have those good experiences and I was lucky enough to play for the same coach for four years. I was lucky to have great teammates.
“There’s no one little part that goes into whether you’re successful or not. There are so many aspects to it.”
Jones, who played for Donald Gibbs in her four years at Washington, is excited about her new position. She already has the Pam Pack off to a 2-0 start, just one win shy of the team’s win total (3-20 overall, 1-13 in Coastal Conference play) from last year.
The Pack won the Northside Tip-Off Classic championship to start the season.
“I just really look forward to working with this group of girls,” said Jones, who is married to former Pam Pack football player Brian Jones and the mother of two. “We’re off to a decent start. We have a lot to work on, but the girls are willing. That’s all I can ask right now.”
Jones, the daughter of Gary and Linda Bron, is basically taking a starting-from-scratch approach with the season.
“I wanted to give them the beginnings of a system to work within,” Jones said. “I think this team has some talent. Some position players are skilled. I think they needed some boundaries and just some structure to play within to give that talent some place to go.
“They’ve had a lot to adjust to with me. I put a lot on them in the seven or eight days we practiced before the tournament. I hope that as the season goes on, the framework that I’ve provided will just be the springboard for what we can do as a team.”
Jones, who earned Class 3-A Colonial All-Conference selection three straight seasons, led the Pam Pack to a 71-28 record during her playing days. That included two sectional final appearances, one conference championship and three second-place finishes.
Jones said part of her success came because of discipline, which is something she wants her players to have this year.
“I believe in being disciplined,” Jones said. “I believe in fundamentals and I believe in teamwork. Those were always stressed when I played in high school ball and college ball. If you look at successful groups, those key things will always be there.
“If you are an unselfish teammate, good things will happen. I hope the kids can pick up on that and I hope to have a lot of fun along the way. That’s just part of it.”
The first-year coach and former standout at Elon College (now Elon University), where she graduated in 1995, plans to stress fundamentals throughout the season.
“The one thing that is consistent with all the teams that I’ve worked with is fundamentals,” said Jones, who averaged 14.0 points and earned a Coach’s Award her senior season. “The first part of every practice is fundamentals. I think that’s critical to build a program on. We are working on that here.
“A lot of the detail part of basketball is what we’re focusing on. You look at your personnel and you’re able to do different things depending on who you’ve got playing on your team, who’s on the floor at that moment, and I try to have a little bit for everybody. This team likes to be able to go a little bit so I’m trying to provide them with the structure to do that.”
Jones, who has a Masters Degree in Sports Administration from East Carolina University, will return to the court Tuesday when the Pam Pack plays at Williamston High School. Washington will play at Northside Friday before playing its home opener Dec. 4 against Williamston.
While Jones is excited about her first home game, she’s not looking ahead -- the same approach her team has taken this year.
“We really haven’t looked very far down the road,” Jones said. “Right now we’re trying, every day when we hit the court, to get better in some way; everybody gets better in some way. I hope that pays off for us down the road.
“It’s just going to be a fight every night. I’m glad that we have a couple of wins under our belts. I hope that winning is contagious enough and they’ll start to expect that from themselves as we build, but we need to build every day. I think these girls expect to win some. I think that they believe in themselves and I think they believe in each other.”
 |
||
| ECU’s Wilson happy about bowl |
