While signing up youth basketball players for one of his camps during his time as Tyner’s coach, Gerald Harris couldn’t help but notice a gangly little kid shooting and playing on a side court.
So he looked at the kid’s father, Troy Jones – who was signing up his oldest son, also named Troy, for the camp – and suggested the younger son stay as well.
“He told me, ‘He’s not old enough,'” Harris recalled recently. “I told him, ‘Put that kid in camp.'”
The Jones family was relatively new to the Chattanooga area. Although Troy had grown up here, he was well traveled, settling in New Orleans at one point before having to relocate due to Hurricane Katrina decimating the family’s home in August 2005.
As for that gangly little kid, Devante Jones’ first experiences with coaches in Chattanooga were with former Brainerd standout Mark Smith and legendary coach Robert High, who accumulated 1,001 wins in his career. That day was the first time Harris encountered Jones, but his initial evaluation yielded one observation: The kid was a player.