Dorothy Jones to be Inducted into Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame
November 07, 2019 | Women's Basketball
Jones played for the Cardinals from 1984 to 1988 and three times led the team in assists.
BUFFALO, N.Y. – On Thursday night, former Louisville Cardinal Dorothy Jones will be inducted into the Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame.
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Jones played for Louisville from 1984 to 1988 and three times led the Cardinals in assists.
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The following story on Jones' induction is courtesy of The Buffalo News.
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Dorothy Jones accomplished a lot in her basketball playing career.
She was first-team all-state as a senior at McKinley High School in 1984 and led the Macks to a Section VI title that year. She went on to a brilliant career at the University of Louisville, starting at point guard and leading the team in assists for each of her final three years.
Yet Jones ended her playing days with a nagging, unfulfilled hole in her resume. Her Macks team fell short of a state title. Her Louisville teams never made the NCAA Tournament.
That championship feeling was missing.
"I feel like I was a good team player, but there's always a little piece of me that felt like I didn't finish my mission," Jones said.
In 1998, Jones became a basketball official. And a decade later, she climbed the refereeing ranks to the point where she was named to officiate at the New York State Public High School Athletic Association girls championship tournament.
"As a player I didn't make it to the state tournament," she said. "So when I got the call for the state tournament as a referee, I got all teared up. Officiating has fulfilled so much for me."
Jones received the ultimate validation of her contributions to Western New York basketball when she got the call early this year telling her she was part of the Class of 2019 to the Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame.
"That really brought the tears," Jones said. "It's truly unbelievable. I had to pinch myself."
Jones, 53, grew up on Wilson Street on the East Side and started playing basketball at age 9. She says she and her brother, Joe, get their athleticism from their mother, Annie. Joe Jones was a football star at McKinley who is in the Harvard Cup Hall of Fame.
"She played down in Tennessee, half-court back then," Jones said. "She gave us that passion and athletic gene. I always was a tomboy, and everybody in my family let me be me. I did a lot of dribbling in the street, started shooting at the neighbor's house. We played at Martin Luther King Park in the Randy Smith League. He gave us sneakers and full uniforms. We traveled to all the parks in the city to play ball."
Jones scored more than 1,100 points at McKinley, and she said she's indebted to her former coach Don Chelf.
"What I remember most at McKinley is the impact Mr. Chelf left on me," she said. "He treated us all like we were his children. He was the type of coach if you couldn't get a ride, he'd pick you up. He'd drop you off at the corner of your street. You could go sit in his office and really talk to him about anything."
Jones and the Macks were stopped one step short of the state final four in '84. They were beaten in the Far West Regionals by a Syracuse Nottingham team led by Felisha Legette, who went on to star for Syracuse University and now coaches the University at Buffalo.
"I had an outstanding game, but their team was stacked," Jones said.
At Louisville, Jones improved from 6.9 to 9.3 to 10.3 points a game her last three years and was team captain. But she was a facilitating point guard first, averaging 4.1 assists a game her last three years and finishing with 399 assists, still in the top 10 in school history.
"I ended up being the floor general, which I always was, but on some teams I had to score more," she said. "In college I had to be a true point guard."
At 5-foot-8, Jones also was an asset defensively.
"People hear 5-8 now and it's no big deal," she said. "But back then I was a big point guard, an aggressive point guard, and my length helped me get a lot of steals."
Her most proud moment with the Cardinals?
"I'd honestly say I'm most proud of getting my degree," she said. "I got it in police administration, criminal justice."
She used the degree to have a 25-year career with the New York State Police. She retired four years ago.
Jones officiated Division I college basketball games for about a decade. Now she officiates at the Division II and III levels, in junior college and in high school. She officiated the 2012 NCAA Division III Final Four, and she has done the D3 Sweet 16 and Elite Eight in the past three years.
"As an official to still be able to connect to that championship game and feel the whole energy of it all is just unbelievable," she said.
For the latest on Louisville women's basketball, visit GoCards.com, follow the team's Twitter account at @UofLWBB or on Facebook at facebook.com/UofLWBB.
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Jones played for Louisville from 1984 to 1988 and three times led the Cardinals in assists.
Â
The following story on Jones' induction is courtesy of The Buffalo News.
Â
Dorothy Jones accomplished a lot in her basketball playing career.
She was first-team all-state as a senior at McKinley High School in 1984 and led the Macks to a Section VI title that year. She went on to a brilliant career at the University of Louisville, starting at point guard and leading the team in assists for each of her final three years.
Yet Jones ended her playing days with a nagging, unfulfilled hole in her resume. Her Macks team fell short of a state title. Her Louisville teams never made the NCAA Tournament.
That championship feeling was missing.
"I feel like I was a good team player, but there's always a little piece of me that felt like I didn't finish my mission," Jones said.
In 1998, Jones became a basketball official. And a decade later, she climbed the refereeing ranks to the point where she was named to officiate at the New York State Public High School Athletic Association girls championship tournament.
"As a player I didn't make it to the state tournament," she said. "So when I got the call for the state tournament as a referee, I got all teared up. Officiating has fulfilled so much for me."
Jones received the ultimate validation of her contributions to Western New York basketball when she got the call early this year telling her she was part of the Class of 2019 to the Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame.
"That really brought the tears," Jones said. "It's truly unbelievable. I had to pinch myself."
Jones, 53, grew up on Wilson Street on the East Side and started playing basketball at age 9. She says she and her brother, Joe, get their athleticism from their mother, Annie. Joe Jones was a football star at McKinley who is in the Harvard Cup Hall of Fame.
"She played down in Tennessee, half-court back then," Jones said. "She gave us that passion and athletic gene. I always was a tomboy, and everybody in my family let me be me. I did a lot of dribbling in the street, started shooting at the neighbor's house. We played at Martin Luther King Park in the Randy Smith League. He gave us sneakers and full uniforms. We traveled to all the parks in the city to play ball."
Jones scored more than 1,100 points at McKinley, and she said she's indebted to her former coach Don Chelf.
"What I remember most at McKinley is the impact Mr. Chelf left on me," she said. "He treated us all like we were his children. He was the type of coach if you couldn't get a ride, he'd pick you up. He'd drop you off at the corner of your street. You could go sit in his office and really talk to him about anything."
Jones and the Macks were stopped one step short of the state final four in '84. They were beaten in the Far West Regionals by a Syracuse Nottingham team led by Felisha Legette, who went on to star for Syracuse University and now coaches the University at Buffalo.
"I had an outstanding game, but their team was stacked," Jones said.
At Louisville, Jones improved from 6.9 to 9.3 to 10.3 points a game her last three years and was team captain. But she was a facilitating point guard first, averaging 4.1 assists a game her last three years and finishing with 399 assists, still in the top 10 in school history.
"I ended up being the floor general, which I always was, but on some teams I had to score more," she said. "In college I had to be a true point guard."
At 5-foot-8, Jones also was an asset defensively.
"People hear 5-8 now and it's no big deal," she said. "But back then I was a big point guard, an aggressive point guard, and my length helped me get a lot of steals."
Her most proud moment with the Cardinals?
"I'd honestly say I'm most proud of getting my degree," she said. "I got it in police administration, criminal justice."
She used the degree to have a 25-year career with the New York State Police. She retired four years ago.
Jones officiated Division I college basketball games for about a decade. Now she officiates at the Division II and III levels, in junior college and in high school. She officiated the 2012 NCAA Division III Final Four, and she has done the D3 Sweet 16 and Elite Eight in the past three years.
"As an official to still be able to connect to that championship game and feel the whole energy of it all is just unbelievable," she said.
For the latest on Louisville women's basketball, visit GoCards.com, follow the team's Twitter account at @UofLWBB or on Facebook at facebook.com/UofLWBB.
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