Pepperdine’s Jones Keeps It Simple : College basketball: Junior forward isn’t fancy, but he’s the player of the year in the West Coast Conference.

When forward Dana Jones of Pepperdine plays basketball, he plays it plain, not fancy.

He doesn’t have a flair for behind-the-back passes or sensational dunks.

He has never had a reputation for talking trash to opponents.

He even prefers grabbing an important rebound or making a critical defensive stop to scoring a lot of points.

Jones carries a more businesslike approach into a game.

“He’s a talented player, but he does it all very quietly,” Pepperdine Coach Tom Asbury said. “He doesn’t have a big ego and he doesn’t make spectacular plays. He’s just a solid, blue-collar type of player who does so many things for us.”

Jones, 20, also doesn’t overwhelm opponents with his slender 6-foot-6, 190-pound physique.

But as he approaches the end of his junior season with the Waves, Jones has already left an impression on coaches in the West Coast Conference.

“He’s the player of the year in the conference, without a doubt,” Loyola Marymount Coach John Olive said. “He’s been Pepperdine’s go-to player all year long and I really admire the way he plays the game. He’s just a tremendous competitor who is very dependable.”

Those sentiments were echoed around the WCC when it was announced Friday that Jones had been named conference player of the year. And Olive will get another first-hand look at Jones when top-seeded Pepperdine (20-6) plays eighth-seeded Loyola (7-19) in the first round of the WCC postseason tournament at 2:30 p.m. today at the University of San Francisco.

It is not as if opposing coaches needed another reminder of Jones’ ability.

Since his freshman season, Jones has been one of the top players in the conference. He was named WCC freshman of the year and made the all-conference first team as a sophomore.

But Jones spent most of his first two seasons playing in the shadows of teammates Geoff Lear and Doug Christie, who was Seattle’s first-round pick in the NBA draft last year and now plays for the Lakers.

With Lear and Christie gone, Jones has assumed more responsibility on offense this season. He is the team’s leading scorer with a 16.1-point average and leads the WCC in rebounding with an average of 9.3, and in shooting at 63.1%.

“He had the talent to do that in his first two seasons,” said senior guard Steve Guild, who is co-captain with Jones. “Dana has always been getting rebounds and playing good defense. But last year we had a couple of more experienced offensive players, so we didn’t need him to score as much.”

Jones has consistently been among the team’s offensive leaders this season. He has posted double-doubles in scoring and rebounding 12 times. Only once this season has he failed to score in double figures. He was held to nine points last week by Gonzaga.

He attributes his consistency to hard work.

“I try to go out every night and do the things necessary to help this team win,” he said. “My rebounding is especially important. Getting that extra rebound or making a good play on defense is the kind of stuff that helps win games and it’s the kind of thing I thrive on.”

Jones also has a penchant for being in the right place at the opportune moment. Guild said it is not simply happenstance.

“The other night, we were practicing our shots before the game and I noticed that he wasn’t taking any shots,” Guild said. “He was just watching how the ball was coming off the boards. I think he studies the way the ball caroms off the boards and he’s quick enough and agile enough to go out and get it.”

The studious habits have been paying off for Jones. Not only has he received numerous accolades, he is also quietly approaching several school records.

“A lot of people don’t realize it, but he’s going to leave here with his share of records,” Asbury said. “He’s moving up on the record for rebounds, as well as some others, and he does it with such little fanfare.”

Jones is hoping that his hard work will lead to an opportunity to play in the NBA after next season.

“That’s my all-time dream and that’s every college basketball player’s dream,” he said. “In order to get there, you have to work on your weaknesses and your all-around game and I know I have a lot of work ahead of me.”

When the season is over, Jones said, he will concentrate on improving his outside shooting and ballhandling skills as well as his strength.

As for his immediate future, Jones has set his sights on helping Pepperdine reach the NCAA tournament for the third consecutive season.

“We want to get to the NCAAs and go farther than we have the last two years and I feel we’re capable of that,” Jones said. “In my first year, we had to play Seton Hall and last year we played Memphis State and there’s always a chance you will have to play a team like that. But I’m hopeful we can get a better matchup and make it to the next round this time.”

Pepperdine can take the first step by winning the WCC tournament, which runs today through Monday. The championship game is set for 9 p.m. Monday.

“Just by winning the (tournament) the last two years, we know that everyone’s going to come out and go right after us,” Jones said. “At the tournament, it’s like a fresh start for everyone and you have to realize that everyone wants to beat you.”

The player who figures to receive most of everyone’s attention will be Jones.

But based on the success he has already enjoyed with the Waves, Jones appears to be prepared for the challenge.