Christian Jones

The Huskies X Factor

By Washington Huskies

January 12^th, 2017

By Brian Tom

The 2017 baseball season at the University of Washington is full of lofty expectations thanks in part to a roster chocked full of experienced returners and talented newcomers. A large part of why the group of newcomers is ranked in the top-10 is thanks to local star Christian Jones and his decision to stay home and play college ball.

Jones, a 19-year-old freshman out of Federal Way, Wash., arrived on campus this past fall as a top-100 recruit and was the Gatorade State Player of the Year. Normally that is a formula that leads to being selected early in the MLB Draft, but with a big signing number Jones waited until the 31st round before hearing his name called by the Boston Red Sox.

It proved to be a fortunate turn of events for the Huskies as instead of signing a pro contract, Jones made the move 25 minutes north up I-5 and to the campus of the University of Washington where he will spend at least the next three years honing his skills and working towards his college degree.

Jones’ route may be atypical of a highly-ranked high school baseball prospect, but then again, there is very little that is typical about Jones. He does not look like your average college freshman baseball player. He stands 6-foot-2 and weighs 225 pounds. He looks like he would be just as comfortable on a football field as he is on a baseball diamond. In his younger days, he did play football – and by all accounts could have been a standout running back or linebacker – but baseball was his calling.

He gravitated to the sport as a youngster and he did so on his own terms. His earliest memories are of playing under the watchful eyes of his dad, Derek, at French Field in Kent. Although he is right-handed, the young Christian gravitated to the left side of the batter’s box.

“For some reason I would go to the left side of the plate,” remembered Jones. “I hit left handed; that’s the only thing I do left handed. No one told me to go over there. No one showed me how to grab a bat left handed, I just picked up a bat and went to the left side and no one changed it.”

And once he had that bat in his hand, it was very hard to pry it away from Jones.

“When I was little we used to have a tee and I would hit the ball off the tee and go chase it, then I would run it back and hit it again,” said Jones. “That is one of my first memories of playing baseball. I was probably like two or three.”

Hitting left handed stuck with Jones and with age and strength, he has earned quite a reputation as a power hitter. On signing day in November of 2015, Husky Coach Lindsay Meggs lumped huge praise on Jones.

“He is a game changer,” Meggs said at the time. “When he steps in the batter’s box, everything comes to a screeching halt. If you don’t get excited watching Christian swing the bat, then you don’t love the game of baseball. Before it’s all over, every Husky Baseball fan is going to remember watching Christian Jones at Husky Ballpark.”

That may seem like hefty praise and a lot of pressure for any player, let alone a freshman, but Jones might just be up to the task of living up to those expectations. He’s played on the big stage before – both on the baseball diamond and on the basketball court.

Jones helped lead his Federal Way hoops team to back-to-back Washington 4A State Championships, including a perfect 29-0 season in 2016. In a 66-54 victory over Kentwood in the final game, Jones had 18 points and 12 rebounds. He was the player of the game in what would be his final high school basketball contest.

Although he misses basketball – the sport which he calls his first love – he knows he is playing the right sport.

“I played basketball and baseball through high school and during the summer of my freshman year I played both,” recalled Jones. “Someone told me I would be really good at baseball so I listened. I stopped playing summer basketball. I missed my friends, a lot who play D1 basketball, but I focused on baseball.”

This past fall was actually the first time in forever that Jones truly concentrated on one sport. With no basketball to prepare for, Jones spent countless hours in the weight room and in the “man cave” which serves as the UW’s batting cages just down the first-base line at Husky Ballpark. All the hard work is already paying off for Jones.

“I never played one sport my whole life,” said Jones. “I can’t wait to play one sport and see how much I improve. I have already seen myself improve.”

He hasn’t totally given up on basketball. It’s just now he gets to participate in the sport as a fan. He attends as many Husky games as possible with teammates. And he still uses his basketball skills to get into the door, however possible.

Jones turned a chance encounter with one of Husky Basketball’s all-time greats into a friendship. He was working out at a gym in Seattle when Nate Robinson walked through the doors. Jones introduced himself to Robinson and the pair became fast friends and Jones now has a new occasional workout partner.

“He is a funny dude,” Jones said of Robinson. “He really pushes me to be good because he sees my potential and all the work I put in.

“My personality with athletes and celebrities, I am not star struck because they do the same things as me. So meeting him wasn’t a big deal. I just told him I played baseball at UW and he was like, ‘Man I wish I played baseball when I was younger.’ Older people understand how cool it is to play baseball.”

Jones also hopes to show younger people it is cool to play baseball. In 2016 according to USA Today, just eight percent of MLB players were African American, well below the national population of roughly 14 percent. Jones is hoping to help change that trend, but it is not why he plays baseball, nor will he let race define him as a player.

“That’s nothing I even think about,” said Jones. “I play the game for myself. I am not worried about what people say or think. But when African Americans think of baseball they think of it as a slow sport, that’s why they play football or basketball.”

As Jones grew in notoriety because of his exploits on the basketball court and baseball field, he also found himself as a role model. He said that becoming a role model “happened naturally, I didn’t force it. But I think that some people look up to me as an African American playing baseball.”

Jones had plenty of role models himself growing up that helped him become the player he is today. He says his dad always pushed him when he was younger, but emphasized that “he never forced me, but gave me the drive.”

He had countless coaches that helped him not only develop his skills, but also master the mental aspects of the game. Jones says when he was younger and things didn’t go his way, he would get upset and let failures fester. His coaches taught him how to deal with adversity and face struggles head on. Other coaches taught him how to be a professional and go about his business the right way, while tuning out all the attention and hype he received. It all helped him become a self-described “X Factor” during the game.

“I want to be able to do everything,” Jones said when asked to define what being an X Factor means. “I can hit, I can defend, I can steal bases when you need me to.”

And of course there will always be Jones’ most lethal trait: his power. Naturally gifted with a strong frame, he also had the benefit of being turned onto Olympic weight training at an early age. When he was 12, Jones began training with Mike Cunliffe, who is the father of Kansas basketball player Sam Cunliffe and Oregon track star Hannah Cunliffe. Working with the Cunliffe family helped him hone his strength and when he arrived on campus he was already able to squat 440, bench 260 and power clean 280 pounds.

The Husky coaches were one of the many colleges which took notice of Jones’ elevated skills at an early age. Meggs’ staff offered Jones early in the recruiting process and Jones happily accepted at the beginning of his junior year. At first Jones thought he might like to go away for school, but ultimately the chance to be a hometown hero proved too much to pass up on.

“At first I was like it’s too close to home, I want to see something new, it is 20 minutes from home,” recalled Jones. “But, being at home and playing at home is a different feeling. You have the support from students and community because you were born and raised here. You can go home whenever you want and get a home-cooked meal, and see your family a lot.

“I chose here because I really invested in the coaches,” Jones continued. “They had my best interest and they were going to push me. They are going to help me improve and when I heard about the people who are coming here, I was like ‘we are going to be good.’ Seeing them go to regionals the last few years and then you have one of the top recruiting classes in the country coming to push the younger guys and older guys … we will make some noise this year.”

If the Huskies are to make some noise this year, you can bet Jones will be at the epicenter of the racket. He’s always stood out in whatever he has done. And there is no reason to believe he can’t be an X Factor this year for his hometown school.

“Seattle is a great city with a lot to do,” Jones said. “UW has a special place in my heart. When we go to Omaha, and if we win the championship, it would be the first in history and be special in Seattle.”