CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Robert Morris guard Kavon Stewart is from Paterson, N.J., and Colonials forward Lucky Jones hails from Newark, two of the toughest inner-cities in the Garden State
Yet coach Andy Toole believes his two North Jersey products didn’t really learn about toughness until they came to play for him.
“I always tell them that they got tough when they came to hang out with me, and I’m a Jersey Shore guy,” Toole, a product of Christian Brothers Academy in Lincroft, N.J., jokingly said here Thursday. “That North Jersey toughness, I’m not sure I’m buying it.”
No. 16 seed Robert Morris will need all the toughness it can muster when it goes up against Jahlil Okafor, the projected No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft, and top-seeded Duke in a South Region game at 7:10 p.m. Friday night at Time Warner Cable Arena.
Yet in Stewart, a 6-foot sophomore guard out of Hudson Catholic, and Jones, a 6-6 senior forward from St. Anthony, Toole knows he has a couple of guys who are as mentally tough as they are physically tough.
“Kavon and Lucky, their greatest attribute is their stubbornness and toughness sometimes, you butt heads with them, but when you get on the floor and you’re in competition and facing adversity, like we did [Wednesday] night [in an 81-77 win over North Florida], those guys step up and respond,” Toole said. “You look for that in recruiting, you look for that competitiveness, you look for that toughness. Sometimes on the practice floor you wish it was different but you know they’re going to show up on game day and that’s exactly what they’ve done.”
Nobody can doubt how tough and strong Lucky Jones is.
He was born with Hirschsprung’s disease, a condition in which nerve cells in the colon don’t form completely. He underwent several surgeries as an infant and wore a colostomy bag until he was almost 2.
“I try not to think about it,” Jones said in the Robert Morris locker room. “I’m thanking God for what he has given me. I don’t take anything for granted because my life could’ve been over with the snap of a finger so I’m just blessed to be here.”
Jones says he doesn’t remember “any of that stuff,” but two pictures in his mother Vicki’s closet serve as reminders of what he looked like as an infant. One picture shows Vicki holding her son in the hospital, and another depicts him at home with a colostomy bag.
Born Lucious Jones, his mother nicknamed him Lucky because of what he was able to survive. Now the nickname comes in handy every time he hits a big shot or makes a big play on the basketball court, like when he helped coach Bob Hurley and St. Anthony win the mythical national championship game in 2011 with a win over then-unbeaten St. Patrick. Jones helped contain Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, the eventual No. 2 pick in the NBA Draft, in a game in which Kyle Anderson made a huge block to clinch it.
“I love my name, I wouldn’t take it back for [anything],” he said.
Jones has a son of his own, 1-year-old Ma’Khai, who sat on his lap at the press conference after Robert Morris held off St. Francis-Brooklyn in the NEC championship March 10.
Jones lives together with his son and the baby’s mother in Pittsburgh.
“We’re proud that he’s even able to understand what’s going on and is able to come to the basketball games,” Jones said. “It’s something I always did when I was younger with my father going to see him play all the time.”
Jones’ father, Lou, once tried out for the New Jersey Nets when Julius Erving was their star.
The family bonds run tight with the Jones’. Standing in the rafters of the St. Francis-Brooklyn game in the Northeast Conference championship game, Vicki and Lou wore T-shirts with their son’s picture on them.
Now, whenever Jones’ college career comes to a close, be it Friday night against Duke, or later, he plans to pursue a pro career somewhere to help support his son.
“Of course, that’s my next journey,” he said. “Hopefully, I’m blessed to take my career further and we just see where that goes.”
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When Stewart first arrived at Robert Morris, he immediately gravitated toward Jones because they had been friendly rivals in high school when Hudson Catholic and St. Anthony battled it out.
“When I first came here I looked up to Lucky because of how much [of] a leader he was and he just guide me through the right path and I’m always with him 24/7,” Stewart said.
Stewart forever tagged around as the little brother behind Jones, but he has emerged as a strong vocal leader of this Colonials team.
Against St. Francis, he rallied his teammates through tough moments and also hit two clutch free throws with 1:15 remaining to extend a 2-point lead to four points. He finished with 11 points and six assists in the 66-63 victory that clinched the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
“Lucky is like the big brother and Kavon is like the little brother but the little brother is guiding the older guys on what to do and how to do it,” said Hudson Catholic coach Nick Mariniello, who attended the St. Francis game. “I just thought it was remarkable to see how infectious Kavon’s leadership was in that game.”
Said Stewart: “That was one of the things that everybody started laughing at because normally I’m the guy that everybody gotta calm down and in that moment, I was the one calming everybody down, trying to get everybody to stay together and things like that.
“I knew that it was a championship game, everybody’s intensity is flowing in the air and I knew it was going to take us being together and that’s what we needed to do,” Stewart said.
On Wednesday against North Florida in the play-in game, Jones went for a team-best 21 points, 7 rebounds and 5 steals and Stewart sealed the game with two free throws with 10 seconds remaining to ice the 81-77 victory. He finished with 7 points and 6 assists.
Once again, the two North Jersey kids came through in the clutch.
“It’s a blessing man to have two Jersey people on the same team,” Stewart said, “especially the rivalry between St. Anthony and Hudson Catholic. And just to be a part of the same team and trying to reach the same goal is great.”
Photos: USA Today Sports
