Things look pretty good for PSU's starting shooting guard Melvin Jones, a junior out of Chief Sealth High School in Seattle and North Idaho Junior College.

Jones leads the Big Sky Conference in three pointers made (60), is shooting .472 from three-point range (third-best in the league and sixth-best in the nation), and ranks 10th in scoring at 13.3 points per game midway through the 2009-10 Big Sky Conference season.

He earned his AA degree from North Idaho College and is majoring in sociology with an eye toward social work or coaching the sport he loves…and which, coincidentally, may just have saved his life.

Because five years ago when Jones arrived at Chief Sealth as a sophomore, he had no high school credits and no permanent place to live.  Chief Sealth was the third high school for this 15-year-old from the projects in Seattle's Holly Park.  His mother battled a serious drug problem and died that year. His dad was out of the picture. He got into trouble and was kicked out of the projects.

Enter Kasey Poirrier and his mother Jennifer Annable (who comes to every PSU home game).  Poirrier was the assistant basketball coach at Chief Sealth at the time (he's currently an assistant at West Seattle High School).

Poirrier first heard about Melvin from a colleague at Chief Sealth High School.

“Melvin had been kicked out of study hall for wearing headphones.  I was at study hall the next day and my friend said 'here comes that kid we kicked out yesterday.'  I walked up to him and said that if he wanted in he had to take the head phones off.  That brought him up short…that someone would actually talk to him about that,” said Poirrer.

Poirrier offered Jones a ride home from school.

“I discovered he was really a nice kid, but he didn't respond to adults.  He wouldn't talk to adults and wouldn't look them in the eye. Most adults had given him up and he didn't have anyone he could trust.  But once he got through the trust barrier, he was a really nice kid,” Poirrier said.

At that point, said Poirrier, Jones “had been in a horrible situation.  He was having difficulty with school, family, responsibilities…everything.”

“I was closed off to people, shy and just didn't trust anyone,” recalled Jones.  “He (Poirrier) used to give me a ride after practice and soon figured out I didn't have a place to live, so he took me home to live with him and his mom (Poirrier was single and living at home).  It was like they saved my life.”      

Basketball was something Jones had enjoyed since starting to play at the age of six (“everyone else was playing so it seemed like the thing to do”) at a Seattle area boys and girls club.  He continued to play in junior high because it was fun, but didn't play during his disastrous freshman year.

When Jones arrived at Chief Sealth, “I tried out for the basketball team.  I knew I wasn't eligible academically, but went to tryouts anyway.  I kept getting kicked out because the coach thought I had an attitude.”

Noting Jones' interest in basketball, Poirrier, who was coaching the junior varsity team, set up a pick-up game with a group of varsity players.  Jones scored seven of the first 11 points.  “I'd been coaching for 14 years and he was the fastest kid I'd ever seen.”

Jones had raw “gym rat” talent, but he was undisciplined.  He didn't play defense and didn't have good habits.

“We worked to make him a better basketball player and, like every opportunity he was given, he ran with it,” he said.  At the same time, Jones also knew that he had to clean up his academic life.

Annable (who Jones now refers to as his 'mother'…an affection that is returned) had a helping professional background.  Recognizing Jones' potential, she arranged for a tutor to help make up for the lost academic years, leading to high school diploma in five years, rather than the usual four.

At junior college, Jones earned his AA degree and was nominated as the school's scholar athlete (he didn't get it, but just being nominated was a milestone).

“He matured a lot with us.  The first time I met him, he was shy, he'd put his head down and wouldn't talk with anyone,” said Jared Phay, North Idaho's head basketball coach.

By the time he left “he was the most popular guy on campus.  He talked with everyone. I think it was just self confidence.  He was doing well in the classroom and he found out that people liked him.  The kids really looked up to him.  He's such a good example. He doesn't drink, do drugs or smoke.  He goes to class.  He's a hard worker. He does everything right,” said Phay.

On the basketball floor, Phay said Jones started to understand the game better and made better decisions, which helped catch the eye of PSU head coach Tyler Geving.

Geving described Jones as, “A great kid to be around…with a great personality.  He has great athleticism, he's quick and he's a phenomenal shooter…yes, it was his ability to shoot and how quick he is.  He's working into our program and has matured a lot already in his time here.  I think he has a chance to have a great senior year and I think he'll be more comfortable with his role as a leader."

Jones likes basketball for the sport itself.  “If you're good at something, it's fun and, as I have gotten better, it's become even more fun.  There's just something about being on the court, being in the limelight.  I love having a coach work with me, setting goals as a player.”

Playing Division I college basketball became a goal Jones' senior year at Chief Sealth.  He credits his high school coaches for shaping his talent and Phay with making him ready to play at Portland State.

“In high school, my coaches told me what I had to do to play college ball and in junior college, the coaches told me what I had to do to play Division I basketball.  Now, I'm trying to continue improving so I can play at the next level…in the NBA or even Europe or somewhere like that,” Jones said.

And, he's continued to work hard in the classroom, although his current PSU GPA isn't what he wants.

“The thing about academics is that if you want to play ball, you've got to have good grades.  Being a student athlete, you have to work harder than a lot of other students because you have to balance academics and working on your sport.  I learned in community college to balance things, so it's fairly easy now.  Personal life really becomes your third priority,” he said.

For now, social life involves mostly hanging out with teammates.

No story about Jones would be complete without mentioning THE SHOT.

In a game last season, Jones' North Idaho team was trailing the College of Southern Idaho by a point with two seconds left on the clock. Jones took an inbound pass in the backcourt and let it go, swishing the game winning three pointer…FROM 75 FEET AWAY! (search North Idaho College Melvin Jones Game Winner on YouTube to see the shot)

“I just shot it—the guy defending me just let off—and it went in.  I thought it looked good, but it was fading a bit and I didn't think it would go in.  It did and I was immediately tackled.  I thought 'did that really go in?' and then I was under a pile of people.  Even two weeks after, I kept thinking about that shot...even today, I'll watch it on YouTube.”

It was an improbable shot with a great reward.  But, not nearly as improbable as Jones' story about how he's gotten to this point in his life.  And, one is tempted to think that there will be a lot more rewards for him further along the road.