FALMOUTH, Mass. – Sports is the foundation of Jayson Jones.

Sports was instilled into Jones from his beginnings. Between being the son of a professional baseball player and Division One basketball player, the younger brother of a Division One baseball player and growing up in Texas, sports is like a family business for Jones.

“They just pushed me ever since I was a young age and having two Division One athletes and a professional athlete in the household it pushes you to a different level,” Jones said. “They've been hard on me my whole life, but it definitely made me a better player and person for it.”

Baseball wasn’t the initial dream for Jones. Growing up, Jones played baseball, basketball and football for multiple teams. He imagined himself being a football player, but baseball pushed itself more and more into his horizon as he went through high school.

“Baseball was always in the picture,” Jones said. “It was more so football all the way up until probably my sophomore, junior year of high school was really whenever I was done playing football and wanted to just focus on baseball.”

The recruitment process for college began early for Jones. Oklahoma State was the first offer he received in eighth grade, but a few years later Arkansas offered to him as well.

“There were a lot of schools I considered, a lot of power fives, Big 12 schools mainly,” Jones said. “I ultimately chose Arkansas because I thought it was gonna be the best decision for me. I thought that they were going to develop me the best that I could develop, but it didn’t work out.”

Arkansas wasn’t smooth sailing for Jones. It felt like an uphill battle, he explained.

“I was already behind in the coach's eyes before I even stepped on campus, so it was tough crawling and scratching my way into any starting role because it felt like I was always trapped,” Jones said.

Jones announced his transfer commitment to Oklahoma State on June 26. Falmouth Commodores teammates Donovan LaSalle and Kollin Ritchie helped make the decision of OSU easier.

“Me and Donnie gelled immediately, like first day,” Jones said. “Kollin is going to be my roommate next year, so I’m excited for that. Whenever I stepped in, they were welcoming and they already knew that I was going to enter the portal, so they were trying to get me to be a Cowboy immediately.”

The transfer process for Jones was straightforward. He received interest from multiple schools early on, but he quickly knew where he wanted to end up.

“I thought that Oklahoma State had the best development for me in the next year or so,” Jones said. “I have two more years of eligibility left, so I wanted to get to a place where I was going to trust and I was just going to go out there and have fun.”

With going to OSU in the fall, Jones is eager for a new chapter in his collegiate career. He looks forward to learning under the OSU coaching and support staff, but a name that highlights OSU’s leadership is highly decorated OSU alumni, 16-season MLB veteran and student assistant Robin Ventura.

Ventura holds OSU’s program record in career batting average (.428), single-season batting average (.469), career hits (329) and career runs (300). He holds titles such as the Golden Spikes Award and the Dick Howser Trophy, was a three-time All-American at OSU, was a twice named MLB All-Star, is a National College Baseball Hall of Fame inductee, a six-time Gold Glove Winning third baseman and a 1988 Olympic Gold Medalist.

“I want to soak up as much as I can to get me prepared for whatever my next steps are,” Jones said.

Jones has been wanting more chances to get up to the dish and be at-bat. Developing every single day is important to Jones and he pushes himself to constantly be doing something to keep himself moving in a positive direction.

“I wanted to come here just to ground myself and be like ‘Hey man you got it, you have the tools, you just need to figure it out, you just need to play, you need to play baseball’,” Jones explained with coming to Falmouth. “Nothing's better development than playing every single day.”

The legacy Jones wants to leave when his baseball career is wrapped is that he is a competitive ballplayer, but also that he was a lighthearted player. Having fun is just as important for him as performing out on the diamond.

Being outgoing, comedic and having a good time is who Jones is. Whether he is cracking jokes in the dugout with his teammates or dancing after getting on base, he is bringing the energy wherever he is.

“I’ve always been that way,” Jones said. “I like to have fun. I’m vocal. I’m really dramatic. That’s exactly who I am. Whenever I play like that, I play at my best and hopefully, I can bring some guys around me that are struggling or mad to try to have fun.”

Photo Credit: Nate Gardner