A Center of Attention : As His Senior Season Approaches, Artesia’s 6-foot-11 Avondre Jones Is Drawing Interest From Several Colleges

There was a time when Avondre Jones might have passed up basketball.

Music, specifically rap, is his first love.

The 6-foot-11 center from State Division II champion Artesia High has made the basketball court his stage this summer, dazzling college coaches with offensive rebounding, scoring and shot-blocking in leagues and camps. At least eight major colleges are said to be interested in him.

“He has made some great strides from the end of the (high school) season until now,” Pioneer Coach Wayne Merino said. “Probably the biggest strides of his career. He’s really focused now. He knows what it takes to do the job.”

Music, an important part of Jones’ life, has taken a back seat for now.

“I have to think about my future, on what I can do if I want to be a (basketball) star,” said Jones, who will be a senior at Artesia. “Before, I wasn’t focused on what it took to be good.”

Focused. Jones and Merino use that word liberally to describe the attitude Jones is expected to maintain if he intends to earn a college scholarship or, perhaps, play someday in the NBA.

Ever since he first wandered onto a basketball court at Artesia Park when he was 11 years old, Jones has been told by coaches that he had the potential to make it to the top. But people expected more from him too because he was bigger than most peers. The pressure has been intense. Sometimes it has taken the fun out of playing the game.

“It hasn’t been easy for him,” said his mother, Vivian Ruffin. “I see a lot of times that he is still a child, but hasn’t had the chance to be a child.”

At the time he began hanging out at the park, Jones was nearly 6 feet tall and extremely shy. He didn’t see himself as basketball star material. He was unsure of himself. His coordination hadn’t caught up with his rapid growth, and he lacked self-confidence. Even when he got to Artesia--three years later and six or seven inches taller--he wasn’t very impressive. Just tall with slow feet and a playing style that bordered on timidity.

“You could tell he was definitely raw, a real project to work on,” said UCLA reserve center Ed O’Bannon, who was a senior for the Pioneers when Jones arrived.

In junior high it had been easy for the lanky Jones to walk out on a basketball court, go through the motions and still score and rebound in double figures. By the time he got to Artesia in 1989, everyone knew of him. He was the next star, they said.

Comparisons were soon being drawn between Ed O’Bannon and Jones, and between Ed and his brother Charles, a 6-6 blue-chip forward who will be a senior at Artesia. Jones and the O’Bannons agree now that such comparisons served no one. But Ed and Charles could deal with it. Jones said it just put more pressure on him. He was expected to be a big impact player--to score, rebound and run the floor like Ed O’Bannon had.

“Everyone expected me to do the same stuff that Ed was doing,” Jones said. “I’m not like Ed. Ed was a basketball machine. It was frustrating.”

Music served as a release. It offered fun and excitement. Jones was more comfortable performing rap tunes for dozens of cooing students in the Artesia lunch area than he was in running the floor inside the Artesia gym.

“He is very talented toward music,” Ruffin said. “That’s one thing he’s considering pursuing as a career someday.”

Ed O’Bannon remembers dozens of Jones’ impromptu performances. “It was cool and it was entertaining,” O’Bannon said. “But there’s a time to pick what you want to do. Will I be a stud athlete or a rap star? He had to decide.”

For now, Jones has decided it’s basketball.

The turning point, apparently, was Artesia’s stunning 66-48 loss to Glendora in March in the Southern Section Division II-AA championship game.

“He looked at a tape of that game and he was very disappointed in what he saw with his play,” said Ruffin about her son. “He saw where he could be better.”

Jones’ performance had been lackluster. After viewing the tape, Jones realized he had to play better defense and keep his mind on executing the game as Merino wanted.

“He sat down with me after that and told me that from now on we were going to see a different Vonnie,” Jones’ mom said. “Well, we’ve seen a different Vonnie.”

Jones focused on the State tournament. He elevated his defense a couple of notches and Artesia (29-4) went on to win the State Division II title by beating San Ramon, 57-50, in the final. Along the way the Pioneers defeated Glendora, 59-54, with Jones scoring 16 points. Although Jones’ scoring average dipped slightly during the State playoffs from his regular-season average of 18.6 points, he had personal bests of almost 11 rebounds and 6.5 blocked shots a game.

“I was trying to concentrate on what I needed to do for our team to win,” he said. “Charles (O’Bannon) was doing more of the scoring, so I was helping out the best way I could.”

Jones thinks he’s ready to begin his senior year with a new outlook.

“I’ve learned that there is a period of time for basketball and a period of time for socializing,” he said. “In the past I was not focused on basketball. There was too much music and too much socializing on the phone. . . . I realize now I wasn’t getting anywhere.”

Merino points out that most teen-agers face adjustments as they mature, and that Jones has been no different.

“He’s really trying to find himself, as all high school kids are,” he said.

Teammate Charles O’Bannon said he’s seen a change in Jones--one that he likes. “His interest in the game is much better now than it was,” O’Bannon said. “He seems to enjoy playing the game a lot more now than he did then.”

A career in music may be on the horizon sometime, but in the near future hardwood floors will serve as Avondre Jones’ stage.