Dan Jones isn’t even officially on the job at Reeds Spring, yet, and already I can tell he’s going to be one of the Tri-Lakes Area coaches I will get along with swimmingly well.

I played phone tag earlier this week with Jones, whose hiring as the Wolves’ next basketball coach was announced by Reeds Spring on Monday. Our schedules didn’t jive for a few days, but he proved just as persistent as me in trying to make sure we got in touch with each other.

This is one coach I suspect I won’t have to worry about making sure his team’s results are submitted to us.

When Jones and I finally did connect, he impressed me as being personable, passionate and humble.

“I’m not a great coach, but I know what I’m doing,” he said on a couple occasions.

Jones added his “real claim to fame,” is being a teammate of actor Brad Pitt in the fourth grade in Springfield Kickapoo’s school district.

Jones was forthcoming enough to pass along to me a copy of the resume he mailed to Reeds Spring administrators.

A little about his background:

He has 16 years of coaching experience to his credit, including 10 as a head coach. He’s had stints at Neosho, Shiloh Christian in Springdale, Ark., St. Joseph Christian in Conway, Ark., and Houston Christian, that’s the Houston in Texas, not Missouri.

Along the way, he’s compiled a 164-132 record, had three district champions and one Final Four team. Twice he led programs to a district championship that previously hadn’t won a district title in a decade or more. He’s had 21 players go on to play college ball, including a dozen NCAA D-I ballers, one of whom is a son of former NBA great Moses Malone.

Most impressive, however, given the high turnover at Reeds Spring, is the commitment Jones wants to give the Wolves.

“I hope you’ll be writing articles about Dan Jones being Reeds Spring’s basketball coach for the next 16-17 years,” said Jones, who will be the Wolves’ seventh coach in 11 years.

“I want to put my roots down and be at Reeds Spring for a long time. I wanted to do that at Neosho, but it didn’t work out. But I’m not looking back. This is what I’ve been looking for for a while.

“I want to hit the ground running and build from basically the first and second grades on up.”

Jones’ wife, Pam, will teach fifth- and sixth-grade science at Reeds Spring. They have two children, Kristina, a freshman, and Michael, a fifth-grader.

What Jones didn’t already know about Reeds Spring before accepting its offer he learned from former Neosho administrator Doyle Price, who coached the Wolves from 1966-‘77.

“I asked him what I could expect from Reeds Spring and he said the community will get behind you,” he said.

Jones says he likes for his teams to apply as much defensive pressure on the ball as possible, including a full-court press and half-court traps.

“I’m not tipping my hand,” he said. “Those coaches who have seen me coach know what I like for my teams to do. I like to mix up our defenses a lot and keep the other team off balance.”

Jones can probably be classified as a player’s coach. He likes to get to know his top scorer as well as the last man on the bench.