MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The last 19 months for Hutchison Sting star, Tyler Jones, have been a rollercoaster. She’s worked her way back from a major injury, averaging about 16 points a game, to lead her team to the playoffs.
Hutchison basketball was on a roll in 2023-24. The Sting are in the state playoffs for the first time since they won the championship in 2021.
"It’s been a big motivation especially because Coach (Thomas) Jones, he’s always mentions it and the work ethic that those girls had," said Ava Jones. "It’s been a big influence."
"It's been a great season thus far. We came in this summer and really worked hard. We did a lot of soul searching," Jones said.
Few players on this team have done more soul searching than Tyler Jones. The junior is playing her first year after missing a season to injury in the summer of 2022.
Tyler was at an AAU tournament in Atlanta. On a drive to the basket, tragedy struck.
"I was going one way and my body kind of went the other and my knee stayed planted in that spot," Tyler said.
Brandon Jones, Tyler's dad, was nearby, working tape jobs for Tyler's AAU team. He was operating as a coach, but had to go into dad mode.
"She just immediately just dropped to the ground with no contact and right then I knew something was serious, because she's never yelled out like that," Brandon said.
An MRI revealed she’d torn her ACL and Meniscus. A devastating blow for a then sophomore with dreams of playing college basketball. From the moment it happened until surgery, uncertainty lingered.
"I felt it and kind of knew what was going on. I just didn't know what the next step was. And I think that was the most scariest thing," Tyler said.
The tear happened in July, but scheduling complications pushed her surgery date back until October. She knew rehab can be a physically and mentally taxing process and was eager to get started, but Tyler wouldn’t go through it alone. She had a recovery partner right in her own home.
"A couple months later, I tore my patellar tendon and she saw me do it," Brandon said. "I had a left knee, she had a right knee. So she was my twin, we actually went through rehab and stuff at the same time."
The father tore his patellar tendon in September. Just two months after daughter, Tyler. The pair had surgery weeks apart and attacked rehab together.
Brandon is a track and field coach at Southwind High School and a former field athlete himself. He jumped at Middle Tennessee State University from 2005 to 2009. Understanding his daughter's eagerness to get back on the floor, he warned her they would have to be patient.
"She knew that if she wanted to remotely get back to being herself, me and her had that conversation, 'we have to take our time, we're not going to rush this,'" Brandon said.
The pair would often encourage each other, sending texts and Facetiming during physical therapy sessions. Many times, they found themselves doing the same type of exercise.
"It was kind of crazy. It was a little weird because after I tore mine, he tore his but that just goes to show me and him. We go through everything together. We're always by each other side," Tyler said. "I think we're definitely closer. It was just a way for us to bond. Not the best way, I would say but we were still pretty close during that time."
The grind back to health was tough, but Tyler attacked it much like her drives to the basket, fearlessly. She'd do rehab at the Campbell Clinic, with her father and still ask for help from the athletic trainer at Hutchison, AJ Kegerise.
"She attacked rehab and the recovery with as much competitiveness as I've seen her play in the game, she's just has wanted to compete from the get go," Kegerise said.
One thing stayed on the forefront of Tyler’s mind. Getting back onto the court with her teammates. She would miss her sophomore season, but was determined to return by the beginning of her junior year.
"I knew if God brought me to it, he was going to bring me through it so I wasn't going to stop for a temporary feeling or emotion," Tyler said.
All the while, she stayed engaged with her team. In the year off she watched from the sideline, asking questions, watching film and getting better mentally, while her body healed physically.
Thomas made her a player's coach and she would help her teammates through drills and plays.
"She would help me even through some of the growing pains," Thomas said.
Kegerise admired how Tyler would still be active at practice, helping the trainers and managers. At games, she'd prop her leg up behind the bench and listen to the huddle and Coach Thomas on the sideline.
The Sting star didn't let her injury isolate her.
"There was never a time where I felt like she wasn't a part of the Hutchison basketball program. Simply because she wasn't starting or playing getting her minutes, she was there every step of the way," Kegerise said.
She was helping her team, but also taking serious the mental reps. The game began to slow down as she constantly analyzed and watched film with Thomas.
"It definitely raise my awareness and IQ for the game. And sitting down made me realize just how much I love the game. So when I got back to it, I realized, okay, this is what you do, so go show it," Tyler said.
She got her chance at the beginning of her junior year. November 17, 2023, 16 months after her injury, Tyler played her first game. Minus a knee brace and a scar, you likely would never know she was ever injured.
"Me and my wife held our breath the first few games," Brandon said. It was only after seeing his daughter pop up off the ground a few times that he felt better.
"I was like okay, she’s good. We’re good to go," Brandon said.
The knee brace can be meddlesome sometimes. Tyler can be seen adjusting it on the sidelines. It's obviously there to help stabilize her knee, but it also serves as a reminder.
"I just take (the brace) with a grain of salt. Because if this is all I have to wear to be back on that court, then I'm fine with that," Tyler said. "I don't take for granted being able to step on the court another day or even get out the bed. Because when I first hurt my leg, I couldn't do anything."
"I definitely don't take any of that for granted. And I know that every time I step on the court, I'm going to take advantage of it."
Hutchison won their region, but fell to Knoxville-Webb, 48-33, in the quarterfinals of the Division II-AA state tournament.