Get to Know ... A&M forward Jalen Jones

On his experience at A&M so far…

“It has been terrific. The people around the area have been great. My teammates have been great and showed me a lot of love since I’ve been down here.  Since I transferred to the school, the coaching staff has showed me tremendous amounts of love and I love it here so far.”

On growing up in a military family…

“It was tough, especially as a younger kid because you want to stay in the same area with your friends and you don’t want to move every two to three years, but it was something I had to overcome. Moving every two to three years and having to meet new people and make new friends ... I will say this, playing sports made it a lot easier for me to make friends and I overcame that by playing sports and meeting new people through sports.”

Favorite place you moved to…

“Probably Fairbanks, Alaska. It was really different and there was a lot of snow. It was dark when I got out of school at 3 o’clock. As a kid I thought it was kind of weird but I would just play with my friends and play in the snow outside.”

On how the discipline in his childhood translates into discipline on the court…

“My mom had to stay home a lot with me and my sister when my dad was overseas fighting in the war. I just had to stay focused and keep the right mindset about academics and basketball and I think for the most part, even when my dad was fighting in the war, he would always call me on the phone and keep my mind right. My mom would also get on me about my academics and sports came after academics.

On his dad being an inspiration in his basketball career…

“Oh yeah most definitely. He played basketball at Prairie View A&M and he made a sacrifice by going in the army to provide for our family. I have the upmost respect for my dad and he is a big part of my life.”

On Acie Law being someone he looked up to…

“Yeah I heard a lot about Acie Law and I wanted to follow in his footsteps and be a good player at Dallas Kimball. We ended up winning a state championship my senior year and I feel like we did a lot of great things while I was there.”

On what the state championship meant to the school and town…

“It felt great to win a state championship and end your high school career on a win. To carry around that ring for the rest of my life, that’s memories I will never forget. Those are teammates I still stay in touch with and will for the rest of my life.”

On choosing SMU out of high school…

“I wanted to be close to my family, my mom and my sister. My dad had gone overseas so I wanted to stay close to my mom and sister so they could come and see me. I wanted to visit them as much as possible so SMU felt like a good spot for me.”

On being coached by Larry Brown at SMU…

“It was terrific. He gave me a lot of knowledge and pushed me to take my game to a different level. His mind for the game is tremendous and I learned a lot from him. He said if I needed to call him any time to call him.”

On his decision to transfer to A&M…

“It was just the college town and the A&M coaching staff showed me a lot of love. When I came down here for a visit when nobody was here over Christmas break, the team welcomed me with open arms. We had a good time while I was down here and I just felt like this was the spot for me. “