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For Norfolk State coach Robert Jones, raising his son and running his team go hand in hand
His teenage son Justin has grown up around the Spartans’ program
Norfolk State University men’s basketball coach Robert Jones’ father was out of his life before he was a teenager, so everything he has learned about raising his 16-year-old son Justin has been through trial and error.
“I try not to give myself too much credit about a lot of things, but I’ll give myself credit about [raising] him,” Jones said. “I think I’ve seen other kids [go] down wrong paths or something like that, but he’s not going on the wrong path. I think our relationship is healthy.”
Jones has full custody of Justin, who aspires to be a Division I basketball player like his father coaches. Jones is also responsible for leading a program with 15 student-athletes, running practices, traveling for road games and taking care of all of his team’s daily needs.
Robert Jones
Like Jones, Justin spent most of his childhood in New York. In the seventh grade, he moved to live with his father in Virginia. It took him a few weeks to adjust to being there full-time instead of visiting on weekends.
It took some adjustment for Jones, too.
“I have to drive him to school and pick him up every day,” Jones said. “So I had to adjust my schedule for early morning and then, like, middle of the day to figure out how to get him … which I am still doing until he gets his license. Now he’s got his permit.”
Justin’s high school basketball season runs concurrently with Jones’ collegiate season. When Justin made his school’s varsity team as a freshman and earned a starting position, Jones had to miss the first few games of his season because Norfolk State was on the road completing its non-conference schedule.
“Having a freshman playing varsity basketball, that’s like a big deal, you know, a badge of honor if you are a dad,” Jones said. “But I was on the road traveling. I’m trying to watch, like, live streams or get scores from other parents. Most parents would have [preferred] to be there live to cheer on their kid.”
He remembers watching his son score eight straight points to help his team win a game during his sophomore year. But even when Jones’ schedule permits him to be in the stands to see his son play, it’s hard for him to turn off his coaching senses.
By the time Justin moved in with Jones, Justin was considered a prospective student-athlete, and Jones wasn’t allowed to coach his son’s youth teams. However, after practice and at home, Jones works with Justin to help advance his skills. As a coach who understands the ins and outs of basketball development and recruitment, Jones never hesitates to help his son pursue his dream of playing collegiate ball.
Though basketball is Jones’ job, it also offers him the perfect opportunity to bond with Justin, who spends a lot of time on the court or working out.
“He’s a basketball coach. He gives me advice basketballwise, too, but then on top of that, he is also my dad,” Justin said. “So I feel like it’s not strictly a coach-player type relationship. We still have, like, a really good father-son relationship.”
Jones also encourages his son to find activities other than basketball that they can enjoy together. Sometimes it’s going out to eat, and other times, it’s playing video games.
“A lot of time is required for basketball, but at the same time [I’m] trying to find a balance to try to do something other than basketball with him,” Jones said.
Justin has spent the last five years as an unofficial member of the Spartans men’s basketball team. On most afternoons, Jones will pick him up from high school and take him to campus to sit in on film sessions and practices with the team. Sometimes Justin also travels with the team on away games.
“[Fatherhood] is the No. 1 thing in his life. He takes pride in it. He wants Justin to be the best person, a high-character individual,” men’s basketball assistant coach C.J. Clemons said. “He wants the best for him. He also wants him to be the best basketball player that he could possibly be. I think that’s the top priority on his list.”
The time Justin has spent around the Spartans program has given him the opportunity to grow and develop his basketball acumen.
“I could see, like, what he says [to] his players and how he coaches his players,” Justin said. “I am able to see, like, what [it] takes to be [a] college basketball player.”
Jones said he has received some interest from Division I basketball programs. Growing up around a historically Black college has opened his eyes to the possibility of a collegiate basketball career if he gets the opportunity.
“As of now [recruiting] is going well. I knew I could be a Division I player. All I gotta do is just keep working hard,” Justin said. “I know how hard it is to get to college. I feel like [an] HBCU would be a good environment. I’ve been to Norfolk State homecomings and stuff, and I really liked the environment there.”
Jones, a first-generation college graduate, worked as an assistant coach at Norfolk State before taking over as head coach in 2013. He is proud of making the transition from growing up in a New York housing project in South Jamaica, Queens, to living in a nice house with a basketball court in the backyard, which he and his son use frequently.
“His makeup is a little different than mine is. … I tried to, like, give him a healthy balance to let him know that you gotta have some toughness to you and stuff like that, especially a Black man in life,” Jones said. “So I know he doesn’t have to have the same journey that I had.
“I always say, like, for me, I had to hit a double to get to second base. He’s able to start on second base.”
Jones isn’t the only father on his coaching staff. Clemons and associate head coach Jamal Brown are fathers, too, and they all learn from one another.
“With his son being a little older I can kind of see the path that [Jones] went, some things that worked, some of the things that didn’t work,” Clemons said. “It also helps me know what to do and what not to do with my son. … We all kind of bounce ideas upon each other and just talk about all the good and bad that comes with [fatherhood].”
Jones takes pride in being present for all of Justin’s big and small moments. He can recall the first points his son scored, his first team and his first AAU tournament.
“I’m proud of him,” he said. “I don’t say too much, so I know sometimes he might think that I’m just always on him, but I’m on him because I see the good in him.”