Upon graduating from Cretin-Derham Hall High School in St. Paul, Minnesota, in 2020, Curtis Jones had no Division II offers to play basketball at the next level, let alone Division I offers.
Roughly five years later, Jones is now a key contributor to one of the top Division I schools in the nation for the Iowa State Cyclones and starring on the cover of one of the sport's most influential magazines.
Here's everything you need to know about Jones, the leading scorer for the No. 2 team in college basketball.
Knowing what he was capable of on the basketball court, Jones bet on himself and attended Indian Hills Community College. In his first and only season in Ottumwa, he became a standout for one of the top JUCO programs in the country, averaging over 12 points, six rebounds and 5.5 assists per game.
"Indian Hills meant so much to me," Jones told CBS Sports. "I was never looking at it like, 'I'm at JUCO, this sucks.' I was grateful to be there because I knew what it could do for me. I can't say I knew I was going to be here, though."
Jones finally made it to Division I by transferring to the University of Buffalo before the start of the 2021 season. After seeing little playing time during his first season in Buffalo, Jones started every game for the Bulls his sophomore year, leading his team in points (15), minutes (31.5) and 3-point percentage (35.9%) per game.
More: Outworked early in his career, Curtis Jones now makes his mark with Iowa State basketball
Jones moved back to the Midwest in 2023 to join head coach T.J. Otzelberger's Iowa State Cyclones squad. In his relatively short time in Ames, the 6-foot-4-inch senior has played a key role for an Iowa State team that made it to the Sweet 16 during his first season and is currently the No. 2 team in the nation after winning 12 straight games.
Despite only starting two of 16 games this season, Jones leads Iowa State in points per game, averaging 17.8 while also putting up four rebounds and 1.4 steals per contest. His 17.8 points per game is also second-best in the Big 12 Conference behind West Virginia's Javon Small.
He's also scored 20 points or more in seven games this season, including in three straight wins over Utah, Texas Tech and Kansas this month.
"I just want to play a lot of minutes and win games," Jones told the Register. "I could do that both ways, with starting or coming off the bench."
Cooper Worth is a service/trending reporter for the Des Moines Register. Reach him at [email protected] or follow him on X @CooperAWorth.