What made Tre Jones a great Duke basketball point guard

The legacy of Duke basketball point guard Tre Jones

Tre Jones seemed like he was born to be a Duke basketball point guard. He embodied everything that the previous ones in Durham had plus the values and ideals of the entire program.  He was tough, unselfish, defensive-minded, and a fierce competitor.

I never heard someone say anything negative about Tre Jones. There were never any stories about his off-court behavior. He seemed to be a high-character kid who cared about his teammates, coaches, and winning. He always had a big smile on his face, and his teammates seemed to love playing with him.

When it came to the court, Jones was uniquely talented. He was an incredibly efficient point guard. In his freshman season, he set Duke’s single-season assist-to-turnover ratio and had the third-highest mark in the nation. Jones also finished in the top 10 in the ACC in steals, assists, offensive rating, win shares, defensive win shares, and defensive box plus/minus in both of his seasons in Durham.

If there was one word to describe Tre Jones, it would be reliable. He was a guy you could trust not only with the game on the line but someone you knew would play hard and do everything he could to help the team win.

Despite not winning a title, Jones can certainly be labeled as a winner. He was responsible for bringing Duke basketball 57 wins over just two seasons. He also helped guide the Blue Devils to an ACC Tournament crown in 2019 and likely would have brought home another in 2020.

Jones certainly had a relentless drive to win, whether that be playing through a shoulder injury his freshman season or helping Duke pull off two of its most incredible comeback victories in program history (at Louisville in 2019 and at UNC in 2020). Tre Jones showed that he also possessed the clutch gene like his brother Tyus. He made countless pressure shots, and his game-tying shot against UNC will forever be remembered.

The one common denominator between all Duke legends is they leave a legacy. Despite playing just two seasons, Jones definitely cemented his legacy in Duke basketball history. He took home ACC Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year honors for the 2019-20 season. Virginia’s Malcolm Brogdon is the only other player to accomplish this same feat.

Jones was also the first point guard to win ACC DPOY since Florida State’s Toney Douglas did so in 2008-09. Jones was an All-ACC defensive performer in both of his seasons at Duke and was on the conference’s 2018-19 All-Freshman Team. In 2019-20, he also finished as a Wooden Award finalist.

I was hoping that Jones would decide to take another shot at a national championship and return for his junior season. That, however, proved to be wishful thinking. He will be playing in the NBA next year, but what he did at Duke will not be soon forgotten.

Jones would have been a star at Duke in any era. He was a true gamer and a guy who embraced being a Blue Devil as much as anyone throughout the history of Duke basketball. While he may not have raised a banner, he provided Duke fans with unforgettable memories that will live on forever.

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