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It took a while for Steyvon Jones to get used to Cornelius Vines’ demanding coaching style. Vines, a former Division I basketball player at Hofstra, had coached Jones throughout high school — first at the Syracuse Academy of Science before transferring to Nottingham High School.

“I was really argumentative back then,” Jones said. “(Vines) used to give me constructive criticism and I didn’t know how to take it.”

But over the years, Jones, a senior 6-foot-4 small forward, has learned to embrace Vines’ mentality. The two began working together in 2020, when Jones was a freshman at SAS. And, when Vines left SAS to become Nottingham’s new head coach, Jones followed him.

In their first year together at Nottingham, the Bulldogs advanced to the New York Section III Class AA State Semifinals, where they ultimately lost to West Genesee. Through their relationship, Jones has improved his ability to take Vines’ criticism and apply it to his game. Though, Vines believes there is still plenty of room to grow.

“I’ve seen glimpses (of D-I potential), but I’ve also seen glimpses of (Jones) cutting corners and not wanting to work on a daily basis,” Vines said. “You can’t be a scholarship kid and cut corners.”

Jones had been adverse to tough coaching before. Nate Peña, Jones’ former coach and founder of Pass Da R.O.C.K. — a Syracuse-based youth basketball development program — said Jones didn’t respond well to his firm training approach.

“I would push, and push, and push,” Peña said. “We would bump heads a lot.”

But coaches like Peña and Vines saw Jones’ talent level and were willing to work past it. Before he first coached him at SAS, Vines watched Jones play in a local AAU league. Vines said Jones stood out and was “bigger than everybody else.”

Vines gave Jones consistent minutes during his freshman year. He only played 11 games due to a COVID-19-shortened schedule, but his talent was apparent. Jones averaged nearly 11 points per game and recorded over seven rebounds per contest, including a 17-board performance against Skaneateles on March 2, 2021.

Then, Jones broke out in his sophomore season. He averaged a double-double (19.9 points, 10.4 rebounds per game) and led SAS to the New York Section III Class AA State Finals. In the championship game against New Hartford, Jones scored 34 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. Still, it wasn’t enough as New Hartford defeated SAS 65-61.

After the state finals loss, Vines resigned as SAS’ head coach. In May 2022, he was hired by Nottingham. In response, Jones decided that he wanted to transfer to join Vines at Nottingham.

Before the pair arrived at Nottingham, the Bulldogs had gone 7-26 from 2020-22. Vines knew that he had to get the most out of Jones to turn the program around. He pinpointed that Jones was inconsistent against better competition, which needed to change for Nottingham to find success.

“‘You can’t be that guy against the teams that aren’t that good… against those teams that we’re struggling to beat, you’ve gotta be that same person,’” Vines said he told Jones.

That type of criticism would have made a younger Jones crack. This time, he answered Vines’ call. Jones led Nottingham to a 17-6 season in 2022-23, where he averaged 20.7 points per game and 7.2 rebounds.

Jones utilized Vines’ coaching to rack up big performances in his junior season. On Jan. 20, 2023, Nottingham faced Cicero-North Syracuse. Because Jones had struggled from range as of late, Vines told Jones to use his larger, lankier frame to get inside.

Jones took Vines’ advice. With only a few seconds left, he drove to the rim and scored to knot the game at 60-60. Then, muscling past CNS defenders, Jones nailed the game-winning layup, leading Nottingham to a 62-60 win.

Jones dropped 33 points and 17 rebounds. He didn’t attempt a single 3-pointer.
“We were trying to tell him, ‘This is what happens when you don’t settle from the arc,’” Vines said.

Now heading into his senior season at Nottingham, Jones has fully applied himself to Vines’ aggressive coaching style. He realizes that Vines coaches him hard so he can improve, and the results have displayed his willingness to take criticism.

“He pushes me to be the best I can be,” Jones said of Vines. “I didn’t know how to take it at first, but over time I learned that he just wanted to help me. He was just telling me in a way I hadn’t heard before.”

Published on November 13, 2023 at 11:05 pm