Antonio Jones, Jr., has always liked to find out what makes things work. His mind has a natural inclination toward all things mechanical, which sometimes leads the Kendrick High School senior to find himself at odds with his mom.
“When I was young, I would get in trouble for breaking things. I would take things apart thinking I was going to fix them, but I was breaking them,” he says.
Jones hasn’t lost his love for tinkering but now the 18-year-old has directed his passion into restoring his most prized possession – a 1986 Pontiac Grand Prix. The car has been a favorite subject to discuss since he received it prior to his sixteenth birthday. Jones and his father have spent countless hours working on the vehicle.
“My dad knows just about everything there is to know about working on engines. My car needs a steering column right now and we are trying to find one but my car is really special. All I know about cars, I have learned from my dad,” says Jones.
His attraction to mechanical design is leading the teenager to think about college engineering programs upon graduation in May. Jones has three area schools in mind but is keeping his options open. One reason he hasn’t made a decision is because he might just be able to attend a college as a collegiate athlete. Jones is a two-sport athlete at Kendrick and an attractive candidate for college athletic programs, which are always on the lookout for talented athletes with a solid academic foundation.
Ever since Jones started school, his mother stressed good grades. His parents have been supportive of his athletic endeavors but they always taught him that academics would take him places athletics couldn’t.
Until high school, Jones rarely saw a B, and even now, the senior – who is a part of Kendrick’s magnet program – has a 3.7 grade point average.
Jones isn’t just a smart student who added a couple of sports to his schedule. This fall he was a starting wide receiver for the Cherokees and an impressive track athlete last spring. Kendrick made it to the second round of the GHSA football playoffs for class 2-AA. According to Jones, it was the first time since 1995 the school had gone that deep into the playoffs. The timing wasn’t lost on him.
“1995 was the year I was born,” he says.
The 5’11” athlete was instrumental in the win over city rival Spencer High School and had several key plays throughout the season. Now that football is over, Jones has turned his attention to track and field.
Jones played football in some form ever since he was about eight years old. He came to Kendrick with expectations of adding basketball as a second sport but sat out his entire sophomore year due to an old knee injury that became a problem following a basketball tryout after his freshman football season.
“I dislocated my kneecap. I couldn’t play any sports at all when I was in the tenth grade because it got, like, worse when I tried out for basketball. It was not a good year,” he recalls.
Instead of allowing that setback to determine his fate, Jones came back as an even better football player his junior year. Taking the injury as a warning about basketball, Jones opted to try track for a second sport. It was a wise decision.
Jones has a natural affinity for speed. Just as his mind was designed to decipher mechanical code, his body seems designed for speed. Nowhere is that more evident that on a running track. His first and only season to date, Jones helped led the school’s B team to a region win. He runs the fourth leg of the 4×100-meter relay. His efforts on the back stretch were instrumental in giving the gold medal to the Cherokees.
Jones also participated in the 4×400 meter relay, a few 100-meter races, and the triple jump. What surprised Jones most when he took up track and field was that he was really good at the fourth leg of a race. He enjoys the head to head against other teams and the idea that he is really competing individually although track is considered a team sport.
Jones doesn’t attract a lot of attention, possibly because he is used to being a part of a crowd. He is the fourth of 16 children in the combined families of his parents. Well respected by his peers, he was selected the 2013-2014 Homecoming King for Kendrick. His friends sometimes jokingly refer to him as “Nerd” because he does well in school and his biggest dream is to one day design automobiles for a living.
Athletics make Jones’ high school days enjoyable and memorable, but he is not afraid of what’s in store after his senior year is completed.
“I know I have the skills to be an athlete in college and my grades give me a little leverage over some other people. The main thing is that I go to a good school and get a degree because my parents have always told me that my education is the real key to my future,” says Jones.
Getting to know Antonio
Family: Mother, Ebony Cuffee; father, Antonio Jones Sr.; 15 brothers and sisters
Pet: A fish
Favorite food: Hot wings
Favorite place to eat: His grandmother’s house on Sunday
Favorite article of clothing to wear: Jordans
Person he would most like to meet: Tavon Austin
Favorite team (college or professional): Georgia Bulldogs
Music: Rap, hip hop
Favorite movie: Little Rascals
Church he attends: Liberty Hill Baptist Church
Person he most admires: My mom and dad
Columbus Valley/Academic Athlete/February 1014
Antonio Jones, Jr.
Kendrick High School
Columbus, Georgia
By Beth Welch
Photos by Jerry Christenson
Speedy athlete using grades to track his future
