D’Artis Jones
Birthdate: February 17, 1970
Birthplace: Hamilton, Ohio
High School: Reading HS (1988)
College: Northwestern University, Ohio Northern (1997), University of Michigan (2004), Colorado State University
Year Inducted: 2014
D’Artis Jones spent time at Northwestern University studying engineering and impressing his teammates on NU’s club basketball team with his skill. One teammate wondered why he wasn’t on the Wildcat varsity team because he was “quick, smart and incredibly athletic.”
The versatile 6-foot-5 Jones transferred to Ohio Northern University after his freshman year and made an immediate impact on the ONU basketball team. In his first varsity season, he was a key player as the Polar Bears won the 1993 NCAA Division III national championship. He led Ohio Northern in scoring as a junior and senior and was on the All-Ohio Athletic Conference first team both years.
In 1995 he was a first team NCAA All-American and the NABC National Player of the Year. He scored an Ohio Athletic Conference record 634 points. He averaged 19.9 points for his career. He still ranks third in career scoring at ONU with 1,575 points. He remains among the career leaders in rebounds, steals, assists and blocked shots.
During Jones’ three seasons, Ohio Northern had a 63-20 overall record and won OAC championships in 1993 and 1995. Oh yes, and he got his engineering degree.
