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Mike Jones adopted the legendary Morgan Wootten and received 511 video games at the highschool basketball establishment DeMatha Catholic (Md.) earlier than shifting on this season as Virginia Tech affiliate head coach, and he will probably be glued to his tv set on Thursday evening when Villanova meets Michigan in a Candy 16 South Area showdown in San Antonio.
As a result of Jones coached Michigan massive man Hunter Dickinson.
And he coached Villanova guard Justin Moore.
Moore and Dickinson performed three years collectively. Gained a WCAC (Washington Catholic Athletic Convention) championship collectively when Moore was a junior and Dickinson was a sophomore.
Just one will go to the Elite Eight.
“Justin is the all-time winningest participant in DeMatha historical past,” Jones instructed The Put up. “I consider that's with 123 wins. Hunter Dickinson is at 121, however Hunter principally missed, due to COVID, six extra video games his senior 12 months. We didn’t play the ultimate six video games that we'd have performed. There’s a rivalry between the 2 of them that it's fairly clear that Hunter would have handed Justin had COVID not hit.”
Jones remembers Dickinson as a 7-year-old when he recruited older brother Ben, who later joined the DeMatha employees. Hunter, now 7-foot-1, was 6-9 as a freshman.
“Nice child. One of many smartest gamers I’ve ever coached, and a lot of the instances you don’t consider a giant man as being sensible, however he’s bought the mind of a guard, passes the ball so nicely, by no means will get sped up,” Jones stated.
Dickinson has all the time been a colourful character.
“He’s that means 100% of the time, on and off the court docket,” Jones stated. “It’s nothing phony about it. As intense as he's and as a lot of a competitor as he's, he’s bought a character, and he embraces it. Lots of instances you get massive youngsters like that rising up, they’re shy as a result of they’re form of awkward. And that’s not Hunter.”
Speaking smack is.
“I keep in mind in highschool, I’m on a bunch textual content with one other coach that we're gonna play,” Jones stated. “And Hunter principally texts each of us, however speaking trash to the coach, who he had a extremely good relationship with, as a result of the coach coached him, however we’re actually on the brink of play him, and Hunter’s speaking trash to the coach — ‘That is what I’m gonna do to you guys tonight,’ or one thing like that. And I’m like, ‘Hunter, man, relax.’ He’s like, ‘Ahh man, he’s not gonna assume twice about it.’ I don’t assume he crosses the road, however it motivates him, it will get him going, it will get his blood boiling.”
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When somebody identified throughout participant interviews on Wednesday that Purdue was the one different Large Ten workforce nonetheless standing, Dickinson stated: “This season was undoubtedly like not one of the best, not the best way that we needed it to. Different followers undoubtedly tell us that, notably Michigan State, Illinois [turning to his teammates] … who else? Ohio State. Who else? There was one other workforce in there. There was one other workforce. Who was it? Who was the opposite workforce? There was another. Oh, oh, the workforce down in Madison, the purple and white workforce, they undoubtedly tell us how they felt about our season. We heard these NIT chants. They have been hurtful. They undoubtedly damage.
“Nevertheless it’s humorous how they’ll be watching us on Thursday again of their cribs.”
No one, after all, loves Goliath.
“He used to get the crap beat out of him, man,” Jones stated. “Simply referees would enable individuals to possibly be a bit of bit extra bodily with Hunter than Hunter was allowed to be bodily with them. And that was all the time sooo irritating with him. His skill to deal with that has all the time been spectacular to me. He scored 40, which for DeMatha was lots, in a recreation his senior 12 months, hitting six 3s within the recreation, one thing that he was extraordinarily happy with when he did it.”
Dickinson will probably be a matchup downside for Villanova coach Jay Wright, who recruited him.
“He hates to lose,” Jones stated. “He’s a kind of guys that you simply prefer it while you’re his teammate as a result of he’s regular. … He’s not so intense you could’t joke round with him, however when it’s time to lace ’em up and get severe, he does that. However he’s additionally the man that you simply wish to hang around with when you’re off the court docket, and within the locker room, and on the bus and airports and accommodations and the whole lot.”
Moore is far much less outgoing, however no much less pushed.
“One of the crucial intense rivals I’ve ever coached,” Jones stated. “Actually quiet. By no means stated a lot of something, however for those who ever talked trash to him or form of bought underneath his pores and skin, you have been in for a protracted evening. Championship video games, video games the place possibly issues weren’t going our means, he was all the time the man that stepped up for it, and he did that loads of instances.”
“He was a kind of guys that you simply knew if he was in your aspect you had an opportunity.”
Jones provides an instance.
“We performed within the Beachball Traditional his junior 12 months, we wound up shedding to Montverde within the semifinals of it, however the spherical earlier than that we performed Imhotep from Philly,” Jones recalled. “One among their guys possibly stated one thing to Justin that form of bought his consideration, and Justin may need scored 18 or 20 straight factors after that. And I can recall their coach yelling on the child that stated one thing to him: ‘Why did you need to say one thing?’ Like why did you need to poke him?”
Jones retains an image of Moore on his cellular phone.
“There’s only a fireplace in him,” Jones stated. “He’s cool round his teammates and the whole lot like that, however he doesn’t say boo. However there’s this quiet depth. I've an image of him … the image’s taken from behind my head, so you'll be able to see Justin’s face. And to see the look on Justin’s face as he’s wanting me useless in my eyes speaking to him, like actually for those who didn’t know any higher, you would see the hearth in his eyes as I’m speaking to him. And I consider the circumstances have been I used to be simply telling him who he was guarding and he was so locked in. He’s a particular child.”
Moore is a perfect accomplice for ’Nova level guard Collin Gillespie.
“Justin is a flexible guard that may guard greater individuals, but in addition guard smaller guys,” Jones stated. “The way in which Villanova performs, the chance for him to play instantly was there for him. However he wasn’t gonna be given something. His imaginative and prescient for what his profession would go like is precisely what’s occurred for him. He will get to play on the ball, off the ball, he will get to attain it, will get to drive it, will get to cross it, will get to protect. That Villanova tradition, the Coach Jay Wright tradition I believe match Justin Moore to a tee.”
Michigan coach, and former Fab 5 and NBA massive man, Juwan Howard match Dickinson to a tee.
“Hunter selected them as a result of he felt like Coach Howard was gonna be the kind of coach that he might be taught an amazing quantity from and understood actually what Hunter goes via every day. Their connection was rapid,” Jones stated.
He added: “You bought numerous choices for these gamers which can be of their caliber in making the fitting selections. I don’t assume anyone can query the alternatives these younger males made.”
Jones has a 3rd participant within the Candy 16 — 6-10 Josh Carlton, who transferred from UConn, will probably be making an attempt to guide Houston previous Arizona within the different South Regional.
“It sucks that they’re all in the identical area,” Jones stated. “Hopefully out of the three of them, one in every of them could make it to the Ultimate 4.
“Simply so proud. I understand how laborious these guys have labored, they’ve all the time performed on successful groups, so I’m not stunned in any respect that they’re on this place.”
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