Road to Duke
The name came from a basketball game his mother was watching on television. In 1995, Debbie Jones watched UCLA’s Tyus Edney race the length of the court and hit a buzzer-beater against Missouri. A year later, she named her second son Tyus. She was a point guard herself — she’d led Devils Lake High School to the North Dakota state championship in 1981. She knew what she was watching. She knew what she wanted her boy to become.
The basketball bloodline runs deep. Father Rob Jones, 6-6, played at Division III Wisconsin-Parkside. Aunt Darcy Cascaes won two state titles at Devils Lake. Uncle Al Nuness captained the Minnesota Gophers in the 1960s. Older half-brother Jadee played at Furman and Mankato State. Younger brother Tre would follow Tyus to Duke and now plays for the Chicago Bulls. ‘It’s kind of in the blood, I guess you could say.’ Grandma eventually got tired of hearing about nothing but basketball at family gatherings.
Rob and Debbie divorced. Debbie raised the boys as a single mother in Apple Valley, Minnesota — a Twin Cities suburb of 50,000 with no basketball tradition. She worked as a paralegal. She used her vacation days to travel with Tyus and Tre to tournaments across the country. ‘All the time we’ve spent, all the money, all the days off work, all the early mornings … it’s just so worth it.’
In eighth grade — not yet enrolled at Apple Valley High — Tyus was named the varsity starting point guard. ‘He was the best point guard at our school, and he wasn’t even at our school.’ Over five years: first-ever state championship, Minnesota Mr. Basketball, 3x AP Player of the Year, 3x Gatorade POY, McDonald’s All-American. Before Tyus, if you typed ‘Apple Valley’ into Google, it showed California. After Tyus, it showed Minnesota.
He’d been friends with Jahlil Okafor since age eight through AAU. They committed to Duke together as a package deal. Something his family told him again and again became his mantra: ‘Tyus, you have to write your own story.’
At Duke
The 2014–15 roster was stacked with freshmen: Okafor, Jones, Justise Winslow, Grayson Allen. Senior Quinn Cook ran the offense. Jones averaged 11.8 PPG, 5.6 APG. All-ACC Third Team. All-ACC Freshman First Team (first trio ever unanimously selected, with Okafor and Winslow). AP honorable mention All-American.
Jeff Capel: ‘The one thing the best point guards have in common is that they win. Whatever it takes to win, Tyus does.’
The championship game against Wisconsin proved it. Frank Kaminsky, Sam Dekker, an experienced Badgers team. Jones scored 23 points with 5 rebounds. He hit a deep three in the final minutes that gave Duke a lead it never relinquished. Duke 68–63. Final Four Most Outstanding Player. Nineteen years old. True freshman. The photo of Jones cutting down the net at Lucas Oil Stadium graced the cover of Sports Illustrated.
April 22, 2015: the mayor of Apple Valley proclaimed “Tyus Jones Day.” Key to the city. First pitch at a Twins game. Number retired at Apple Valley High after a parade through town. President Obama referenced his nickname, “Tyus Stones.” He declared for the draft.
After Duke
Drafted 24th by Cleveland, immediately traded to his hometown Timberwolves. Four seasons as a backup (2015–19) behind Ricky Rubio and Jeff Teague — reliable, steady, always efficient.
Memphis (2019–23) is where the quiet excellence became historic. Jones set the NBA single-season record for assist-to-turnover ratio: 6.96 in 2020–21. Broke his own record: 7.04 in 2021–22. Broke it again: 7.35 in 2022–23. Six consecutive seasons leading the NBA. No player in league history has ever been as precise with the basketball. His mother was a point guard who taught him the position is about making others better and never giving the ball away. He internalized it at a cellular level.
With Ja Morant suspended, Jones stepped into the starting lineup and proved he could run a team at the highest level — just as he had as an eighth-grader, just as he had in the championship game. Traded to Washington (2023–24). Signed with Phoenix (2024). Career: ~8.5 PPG, ~4.5 APG, historically unprecedented A/TO ratio.
Where Is He Now
In 2019, Debbie was diagnosed with breast cancer. For the first time in over two decades, basketball took a backseat. ‘Without my mom, I wouldn’t be where I am today. This was a wakeup call. She came first. Family was the only thing I focused on.’
In Minnesota, his former teammate Karl-Anthony Towns had custom sneakers created for the entire Timberwolves squad to wear in a game honoring breast cancer awareness. Towns’s own mother had battled COVID-19. The gesture moved the Jones family deeply.
Debbie underwent two rounds of chemotherapy and five weeks of radiation. ‘She’s Superwoman. She’s the toughest, strongest person I know.’ After nine months: cancer-free. The single mother who used her vacation days to drive to AAU tournaments had beaten the disease that tried to take her from the family she’d built.
Tyus is 29. Lives in Minnesota. Dog named Duke Stone Jones. Runs “Write Your Own Story” — refurbishing technology labs for kids, hosting camps, giving speeches. Brother Tre plays for the Bulls. Brother Jadee trains players. The family that got tired of hearing nothing but basketball at holiday dinners produced three college players and two NBA pros from a North Dakota point guard who named her son after a buzzer-beater on television.
He was named after Tyus Edney because his mother saw a point guard do something extraordinary. He started varsity as an eighth-grader. Led Apple Valley to its first state title and got a day named after him. Committed to Duke with a friend he’d known since age eight. Hit the biggest shot of the 2015 tournament. Set the NBA A/TO record six times. And when his mother was diagnosed with cancer, he put the game aside — because she had always come first. The point guard who taught him how to be a point guard. The toughest person he’s ever known. ‘Tyus, you have to write your own story.’ He did. The best chapter is the one where his mom is still here to read it.