Report: Ex-Louisville G Jones denies alleged anger management plan
UPDATE: In a message to The Courier-Journal, Jones has reportedly denied the claim that he planned to seek anger management advice from Lucas. The news outlet also reported that Lucas declined to comment on Jones when reached by phone on Monday.
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Former Louisville guard Chris Jones, dismissed by the team Sunday, is expected to visit former NBA player and coach John Lucas to work on anger management and other issues associated with his Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, the Louisville Courier-Journal reported, citing an unnamed source close to Jones.
Jones had been suspended for last Wednesday's loss at Syracuse, but was reinstated Thursday and returned to action for Saturday's 55-53 win over Miami, scoring 17 points. The source would not divulge why Jones was kicked off the team, but Jones has had a number of disciplinary issues with the team, primarily because of his temper, the Courier-Journal reported.
"I'm not worried about anything that anybody has to say about me," Jones said after Saturday's game, per the Courier-Journal. "I came a long way, I'm telling you, from (throwing) garbage cans in gyms to wanting to fight every game to keeping it inside. I know how to manage it by just playing hard."
Lucas runs a program based in Houston that helps athletes deal with various issues, including drug and alcohol abuse. He helped another former Cardinals player, Chane Behanan, after he was dismissed by the team in 2014.
Louisville (21-6, 9-5 Atlantic Coast Conference) now enters Monday night's game at Georgia Tech without its assists leader (3.7 per game) and third-leading scorer (13.7 points). Jones' dismissal likely thrusts freshman Quentin Snider into a bigger role for the Cardinals. The Louisville native made his second straight start and didn't score in five minutes of action against the Hurricanes, but he had a season-high 13 points in Jones' place at Syracuse.
Jones watched that 69-59 loss in his dorm room. Cardinals coach Rick Pitino harshly criticized his starting guard afterward and said his selfishness hurt the Cardinals, calling him a "knucklehead" in one interview.
Jones was contrite following the Miami win and acknowledged that he "made a mistake that I shouldn't have done."
Asked why he thought he was suspended, Jones said, "it was coach's decision. It is what it is. I learned from it. Coach called it my selfish behavior of what happened between a situation. It's just something I learned from -- you've got to stay away from things like that and that's what I'm going to do."
Louisville now must replace a player who was critical on both ends of the floor.
Jones was a fierce defender who could quickly make steals leading to easy layups. He was also fearless in driving the lane against bigger defenders and could make baskets from long range.
That determination sometimes led to questionable decision-making that frustrated Pitino. Jones drew the coach's ire for a well-publicized flop against top-ranked Kentucky in December, leading to diminished playing time in the following game against Long Beach State.
Jones returned from that benching to score 22 points in back-to-back games and 19 in a one-point loss at North Carolina. Saturday's game was part of a productive stretch featuring double-digit scoring efforts in 10 of 13 ACC contests played.
"Chris is the type of guy who always has his hands in the cookie jar, and if you allow his hands to go in the cookie jar, he'll take all the cookies," Pitino said in January, per the Courier-Journal report. "He'll do the wrong things ... so you have to make sure Chris does all the right things. He is a great guy and a lot of fun to coach because he'll bring it every single practice, but if you allow him to have bad habits, he'll have a lot of bad habits. If you don't allow it, he won't.
"In the past he's been allowed to get away with certain things. It's like ... most young people are sitting on a fence. With discipline, education, fundamentals, they'll do great things in life. If you don't give them good discipline, good fundamentals, good teaching, they'll do the wrong things in life."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
