8/14/2020 football Edit

Catching up with ... Kip Jones

Tom Dienhart • BoilerUpload

GoldandBlack.com, Associate Editor

At Purdue, Jones was a fan favorite who was famous for his reckless abandon, hustle and spirit.

The memories come back to Kip Jones quickly when asked about his time at Purdue playing for Gene Keady from 1985-89.

Jones arrived at Purdue in the fall of 1985 along with fellow freshman Mel McCants after a decorated career at Bellmont High in Decatur, Ind., in northeast Indiana near Fort Wayne. Jones was a touted prospect who was a runner-up to Jeff Grose of Warsaw for 1985 Mr. Basketball honors during a career in which Jones tallied over 1,600 points.

At Purdue, Jones was a fan favorite who was famous for his reckless abandon, hustle and spirit. He did the dirty work and liked it. The 6-8 Jones averaged 5.4 points and 3.0 rebounds while helping the Boilermakers win Big Ten titles as a sophomore and junior. Jones started 35 of 116 career games. His best season was his senior campaign in 1988-89, when he averaged 9.3 points and 3.2. rebounds as a team captain.

Jones enjoyed a brief career overseas, worked considerable time in various businesses while also coaching. He has settled in to a career as a high school teacher in Fort Wayne.

GoldandBlack.com caught up with Jones.

GoldandBlack.com: How did you end up at Purdue?

Jones: My JV coach was originally from Lafayette. He had taken me to a couple camps. We went to Nebraska my freshman year. And then I ended up going to Purdue camp about every year. And for some reason, I always ended up going to Purdue. And it was because he was a Purdue fan and I didn't really know it. It was one of those situations where I made it pretty easy on Coach Keady, because I liked it, and I still to this day I'm a person who makes a pretty quick decision.

GoldandBlack.com: Did Indiana recruit you?

Jones: Coach Knight called my head coach every year and asked if I wanted to go to IU, but he didn't kind of recruit me. He just kept calling. If I had said I was interested, then I'm sure they would have cranked it up a little bit. But I liked the fact that Coach Keady and Coach (Bruce) Weber were coming to some of my games were actually doing the work. At that time, I don't feel like Coach Knight had to do the work to recruit the kids that he was getting based on his championships and the lore of IU. If he had came to a few games, I might have been interested. I was highly recruited. I had trash bags filled with letters.

GoldandBlack.com: You were a McDonald’s All-American, right?

Jones: I was. Honestly, it's a little bit embarrassing at this point because, you know, because I went into a team where Todd Mitchell, Troy Lewis and Everette Stephens were a year older than me and they were awesome. And Melvin McCann's came in and he just fit that center position so perfect with those guys. I look back on it, and I was kind of a perfect fit for those guys and the way that the game was played back then. Because, back then, you always had a power forward that was a little bit of a knucklehead, played hard and would run to the wall for the coach. That’s why Coach Keady liked me so much, because when he told me to do something, he knew I was going to do it.

GoldandBlack.com: What were the highlights for you at Purdue?

Jones: I think the obvious one for me was the overtime game at home vs. Illinois in 1987. We were co-Big Ten champs that year. I hit a free throw with zero time on the clock to win the game.

I had gotten fouled and I had two free throws to basically win the game. And I was a terrible free-throw shooter. So, first one. I step up up to the line and Stephen Bardo was right next to me and said: ‘You’re too green.’ I was a sophomore. And I'm thinking to myself: 'Hell, I might be too green.' I stepped up and the first free throw felt pretty good. It rattled, set on the back of the rim and all of Mackey made a collective “ohhh.” It was so close, but it didn't go down. So, I'm down to one free throw. I let go of the ball and it actually felt a little bit short, but it dropped right in.

After that, our bench emptied and we got called for a technical (because the final buzzer had not sounded). So, Illinois had Doug Altenberger, Illinois’ best free-throw shooter, shoot the technical free throws with no time on the clock. He steps up, it hits off the back the rim and goes straight up. Miss. I had no idea the importance of that game for us. I was such a naive kid back then. To this day, I think god I made that free throw.

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Kip has been happily married to Jill for years.

GoldandBlack.com: What have you done since you left Purdue after the 1988-89 season?

Jones: I've kind of been a jack-of-all-trades. It’s been kind of crazy for me. I was the first to go to college from my family. My whole goal was to get a college degree. The coaches suggested I go into hotel restaurant management. I was fine with that. All I wanted to do was graduate. I wish I had a little bit more understanding of what college was. And I wish I'd had a little bit higher goal than to just graduate. Kids today are more informed than I was.

After graduating, I didn't really know what I wanted to do. I ended up working for a telecommunications company for a little bit, but I was still playing ball with the Lafayette Hustlers.

I got my offensive mind-set game together and played well. I got an agent who got me a deal to play in Hong Kong. I went over with Mark Atkinson. My agent then got me on in Turkey. I averaged 26 points. I played well. But I had a chipped disk from when I was back at Purdue, and that was slowing me down. I missed time my senior year because of it. I ended up having a ruptured disk in Turkey. I kept playing with it. I had surgery that I paid for myself and went to Portugal, but my back was still bothering me. They said I could stay but if I hurt my back I would have to pay for surgery myself. That was it for me.

I ended up working in the insurance business for four years. And then I got into manufacturing. I was a supervisor for a plastics company. And then I was a supervisor for a glass company. I went back to school to get my master’s in management. I got on as an operations manager for a wire harness manufacturer. And then they actually hired me to run a plant over in the Philippines for three years. About a month into it, September 11 happened. I got let go. I got a job in Detroit with Dick Dauch. I got laid off there as one of the new guys. I then worked for George Faerber. He made me a glorified sales manager in Fort Wayne. I sold windows, doors and siding. I then started my own business in home improvement. At that time, I became the girl’s basketball coach at South Adams. I then got on as an assistant at IPFW.

The coach bug had me so I went full bore into it. I interviewed at Wayne High School for the girl’s job. Then, the principal asked me if I wanted to teach for him. So I ended up coaching for two years. And I'm still a business teacher. I'm going into my fifth year at Wayne.

GoldandBlack.com: Are you married with kids?

Jones: Been married for 27 years to the best woman in the universe. No kids. We would have liked to, but it just didn't work out. But we have traveled the world and really enjoyed it.

GoldandBlack.com: Do you still follow Purdue?

Jones: I love watching. We got season tickets to the football games, and I go to a few basketball games each year. Coach Painter is a great guy. We are pretty close. We are fortunate to have Matt Painter as coach and to follow Gene Keady.

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