Hall of Fame
He ran into an old Cabrini professor in Russia, a horde of giant mosquitoes in Spain, a fan riot in Bolivia, a series of unspeakably good times in Brazil.
His official statement on the night life of Rio: "I don’t want to incriminate myself."
Hurl a dart at a map of the world and chances are Allen Jones Jr. landed there first. He’s played basketball on every continent but Atlantis, and maybe there too. Hard to keep track when you’re on the road nine months a year.
For three glorious years, from 1988 to ’91, Jones was no mere globetrotter. He was a Globetrotter.
Not bad for a shooting guard from Philadelphia’s Dobbins Tech who settled for second-team All-Public League in basketball.
All Jones did from 1983 to ’87 was take Cabrini from upstart wannabe to national NAIA power, soon to be NCAA Division III power. After a year on the bench, he led the Cavaliers to three straight NAIA District 19 titles and three straight berths in the 32-team national tournament in Kansas City.
Jones won back-to-back District 19 Player of the Year awards in 1986 and ’87, along with Philadelphia Small College Player of the Year honors.
In December 1987, through a friend of coach John Dzik, Jones wangled a spot on the Washington Generals, the Harlem Globetrotters’ designated patsy. Six months later he was promoted to the Globies themselves.
Every night he’d haul a basketball back to his hotel room and practice the tricks and one-finger ball spins required of a Globetrotter. Years later, he still can impress the neighborhood kids when the mood strikes.
In 1991 Jones hopped off the merry-go-round, with its one-day-off-a-month grind, and returned to Philadelphia, where he’s worked for Amtrak ever since. At night he’d shake and bake in the Hank Gathers League for graying former stars and near-stars, going up against ex-NBA players and college luminaries.
An Achilles’ tendon problem has put his post-career career on hold, giving him more time to coach his 13-year-old son Allen III. "I see him do some things that I don’t want to become habits, like slouching on defense," he said.
After all, who knows better than Dad that you have to be good enough for Radnor before you can even think of Rio.
