Sweet Home High School senior Willie Jones is getting a chance to fulfill a dream and play U.S. basketball.
New Zealand has been Jones’ home since he was 3. He was born in Eugene and lived in Lacomb until his family moved to New Zealand in 1994.
His father is in forestry and had an opportunity to go to New Zealand or Chile, Jones said. He chose New Zealand because it is an English-speaking country.
Jones lived in Napier on the North Island. New Zealand high school is five years long. He has attended four years of high school and will graduate from SHHS this year.
He is living with his aunt and uncle, Jane and Milt Moran.
“I just wanted to see how America was, experience life here,” Jones said. “It’s always been my dream since I was 12.”
It became more important to him with the advent of basketball in his life.
He wasn’t interested in the game much until two years ago, he said. “I didn’t really like the sport at all.”
“My father always wanted to watch me play,” said Jones, who stands 6-4.
“My height really carried me,” Jones said. “I was invited to a national team back home.”
He also was captain and most valuable player both years, he said. He was surprised by his success, and it elevated his interest in the sport.
Now, he loves basketball.
At home he played for a school of 1,200, he said. His district had five other schools with 800 to 1,000 students.
Most schools in New Zealand are all-boys or all-girls, encouraging better focus and grades among students, Jones said, although some are co-ed.
“I went to an all-boys school because the sports were better,” he said. “I love it way better here.”
The basketball rules are different for U.S. high schools, with a slightly shorter three-point line and the rectangular key. New Zealand courts are laid out according to international rules, with a wigwam-shaped key. Ball-carrying rules are different.
Following international rules, New Zealand basketball doesn’t have a five-second rule for the ball carrier; but it does have a 24-second shot clock at the high school level.
Rules aren’t the only difference, Jones said. “It’s a lot more scrappy.”
Jones said his height wasn’t exceptional in New Zealand. Teams there have players standing 1 to 3 inches taller; and they’re tougher to play against individually, he said.
But the Huskies would win a contest against his home team, he said. His school isn’t as tough on defense and is not nearly as competitive as the teams are here.
Jones brings something to Sweet Home that the Huskies needed: size in the post.
“Willie is probably really the only big guy we have on our varsity team right now,” said Coach Kostanty Knurowski.
He works well inside as a bruiser, and he can shoot well, Knurowski said.
He recently scored 18 points and eight rebounds against Oregon’s top-ranked team, Elmira, to help lead the Huskies to victory.
“That was probably one of his best games, and it was efficient,” Knurowski said. Jones hit nine of 11 field goal attempts in that one.
“Most of his points come from down low, but from time to time, you’ll see him stepping out and taking perimeter shots.”
He even has one three-pointer this year, Knurowski said. Jones is averaging eight to nine points per game and seven to eight rebounds per game
“He’s done a very good job of adjusting to our team,” Knurowski said. As a post, he was the primary scorer and rebounder in New Zealand, but he’s done a good job fitting into his post role here.
He’s also fitting in well with the team, Knurowski said. “He’s a guy you want on your team. He’ll do what needs to be done to contribute to the team and help us be successful.”
Jones said his home in New Zealand and Sweet Home have a similar cultural base in forestry, but at home, the Maori form a second society, a second culture, that doesn’t exist in Sweet Home. His hometown also has a population of about 50,000, but he still enjoys rural pursuits, such as hunting and fishing.
He remains undecided about his plans after graduation, he said. He hasn’t decided whether to go home, start working or go to college. He does want to play basketball, maybe at Western Oregon University.
He would like to study the culinary arts, he said. “When I was about 12 years old, I worked for an Italian chef.”
He spent six years working for the chef and loves cooking.
Jones is enjoying high school and life here in general as well, he said.
“I get along with them pretty well,” he said of his team. He met point guard Drew Emmert two days after he arrived, and they hit it off.
He has a New Zealand accent that sometimes gets in the way of communication.
“You guys are easy to understand,” he said. “Sometimes it’s hard to understand me.”