By Bill Koch
Herb Jones was the best player on the 1992 UC team that shocked the college basketball world by going to the Final Four in Bob Huggins’ third year as the Bearcats' head coach.
Jones didn’t go on to an NBA career like his teammates Corie Blount and Nick Van Exel did for many years after they left UC, but he was the cornerstone around which that Final Four team was constructed.
“Herb is the reason that Cincinnati basketball got turned around,” Huggins said. “He was the first guy. He was the guy who really could be on par with the people we had to play. He was like the Louisville guys at the time, a great, great athlete, a great basketball player, an even better person. He was very quiet, but was a great teammate, an absolutely wonderful teammate.”
Jones passed away early this morning at the age of 51 after a long battle against liver and lung cancer.
“He was the head of the snake,” said Terry Nelson, who played on the 1992 team with Jones. “He did everything for us.
“He was the versatile player that could guard anybody on the perimeter. He could guard your No. 1 wing scorer and you could put him in front of the press because he could guard the ball. He could contain the dribble. He was our best rebounder, our best scorer. He was just a matchup nightmare for anybody who played us and he never said a word. He would never get rattled.”
Jones, from Atlanta, was listed as 6 feet, 4 inches. He had uncanny leaping ability and a picture-perfect jump shot. UC signed him out of Butler (Kan.) Community College where he averaged 27.0 points and 11.5 rebounds while shooting 69 percent from the field. He was a two-time junior college All-American and the Kansas JUCO Player of the Year.
His signing with UC stunned the major programs that were pursuing him because at the time the Bearcats were in a rebuilding mode. It sent a signal to the rest of the country that UC was poised for a major resurgence under Huggins. Assistant coach Steve Moeller was the point man in the Bearcats’ pursuit of Jones.
“We outworked everybody,” Huggins said. “Moe did a wonderful job.”
Even though he was an undersized forward, Jones averaged 16.1 points and 7.8 rebounds in his first year at UC. He led the Bearcats in scoring during the Final Four year with 18.1 points per game. He also averaged 7.1 rebounds and was an honorable mention AP all-American.
Nelson first saw Jones play when Huggins made a recruiting visit to his house.
“He put a tape in and I saw them pressing,” Nelson said. “I saw him getting dunks, I saw Herb finishing. I was like, who is that? Huggs said he was the junior college Player of the Year last year. We got him this year. And he’ll be a senior next year when you’re there.
“I was like, oh my goodness. I thought with him, and Corie and myself and Erik (Martin), I said we’re going to the Final Four. Everybody laughed at me, but I told them we’ve got some pieces here. People just don’t know about it.”
Jones was so fundamentally sound, he worked so hard and was so coachable that Huggins rarely had a reason to yell at him during practice.
“It was very seldom that he would really get on Herb, but one day Herb just was not in it and Huggs lit into him,” Nelson said. “Herb responded by dominating in practice like we had never seen him in a game. He was dunking on everybody, hitting every shot. We talk about it all the time that he had other levels that he would hit when people would talk trash, and when Huggs would try to light a fire under him. Not everybody has those levels.”
If Jones had been 6-7 or 6-9 instead of “6-4 on a good day,” Nelson said, “He would have been a 20-year NBA player. He was still playing overseas until he was 40.”
Despite playing only two years at UC, Jones scored 1,097 points, which ranks 41st on the school’s career scoring list. He was inducted into UC’s James P. Kelly Hall of Fame in August of this year.
News of Jones’ death has hit his Final Four teammates hard, even though they had known for some time that his prognosis was not good.
“We’re all shook,” Nelson said. “We can’t believe it. We’re brothers. We mean that in the truest sense. We still hang out together, but it’s not going to be the same because now mortality has set in and you realize that life is fragile.”
Herb Jones was the best player on the 1992 UC team that shocked the college basketball world by going to the Final Four in Bob Huggins’ third year as the Bearcats' head coach.
Jones didn’t go on to an NBA career like his teammates Corie Blount and Nick Van Exel did for many years after they left UC, but he was the cornerstone around which that Final Four team was constructed.
“Herb is the reason that Cincinnati basketball got turned around,” Huggins said. “He was the first guy. He was the guy who really could be on par with the people we had to play. He was like the Louisville guys at the time, a great, great athlete, a great basketball player, an even better person. He was very quiet, but was a great teammate, an absolutely wonderful teammate.”
Jones passed away early this morning at the age of 51 after a long battle against liver and lung cancer.
“He was the head of the snake,” said Terry Nelson, who played on the 1992 team with Jones. “He did everything for us.
“He was the versatile player that could guard anybody on the perimeter. He could guard your No. 1 wing scorer and you could put him in front of the press because he could guard the ball. He could contain the dribble. He was our best rebounder, our best scorer. He was just a matchup nightmare for anybody who played us and he never said a word. He would never get rattled.”
Jones, from Atlanta, was listed as 6 feet, 4 inches. He had uncanny leaping ability and a picture-perfect jump shot. UC signed him out of Butler (Kan.) Community College where he averaged 27.0 points and 11.5 rebounds while shooting 69 percent from the field. He was a two-time junior college All-American and the Kansas JUCO Player of the Year.
His signing with UC stunned the major programs that were pursuing him because at the time the Bearcats were in a rebuilding mode. It sent a signal to the rest of the country that UC was poised for a major resurgence under Huggins. Assistant coach Steve Moeller was the point man in the Bearcats’ pursuit of Jones.
“We outworked everybody,” Huggins said. “Moe did a wonderful job.”
Even though he was an undersized forward, Jones averaged 16.1 points and 7.8 rebounds in his first year at UC. He led the Bearcats in scoring during the Final Four year with 18.1 points per game. He also averaged 7.1 rebounds and was an honorable mention AP all-American.
Nelson first saw Jones play when Huggins made a recruiting visit to his house.
“He put a tape in and I saw them pressing,” Nelson said. “I saw him getting dunks, I saw Herb finishing. I was like, who is that? Huggs said he was the junior college Player of the Year last year. We got him this year. And he’ll be a senior next year when you’re there.
“I was like, oh my goodness. I thought with him, and Corie and myself and Erik (Martin), I said we’re going to the Final Four. Everybody laughed at me, but I told them we’ve got some pieces here. People just don’t know about it.”
Jones was so fundamentally sound, he worked so hard and was so coachable that Huggins rarely had a reason to yell at him during practice.
“It was very seldom that he would really get on Herb, but one day Herb just was not in it and Huggs lit into him,” Nelson said. “Herb responded by dominating in practice like we had never seen him in a game. He was dunking on everybody, hitting every shot. We talk about it all the time that he had other levels that he would hit when people would talk trash, and when Huggs would try to light a fire under him. Not everybody has those levels.”
If Jones had been 6-7 or 6-9 instead of “6-4 on a good day,” Nelson said, “He would have been a 20-year NBA player. He was still playing overseas until he was 40.”
Despite playing only two years at UC, Jones scored 1,097 points, which ranks 41st on the school’s career scoring list. He was inducted into UC’s James P. Kelly Hall of Fame in August of this year.
News of Jones’ death has hit his Final Four teammates hard, even though they had known for some time that his prognosis was not good.
“We’re all shook,” Nelson said. “We can’t believe it. We’re brothers. We mean that in the truest sense. We still hang out together, but it’s not going to be the same because now mortality has set in and you realize that life is fragile.”
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