NORFOLK, Va. – Old Dominion men's basketball coach Jeff Jones, who hasn't coached a game at Chartway Arena since early December, will attend Saturday night when Jason Wade plays his final home basketball game.
And the reason is obvious to everyone who knows Jones well.
Nobody embodies Jones' style of basketball, nor his ethics, more than the 6-foot-4 forward from Richmond, who is in his sixth and final season at ODU.
Wade works hard, plays physical defense and is an unselfish guy who will do anything he's asked to help his team win. He's polite, religious, takes academics seriously and treats everyone with dignity.
And he's shown uncommon courage not only in facing physical pain and physical limitations caused by injuries, but in fighting back from a deep depression that was so dark and so painful, he wondered if life was worth living.
"I love the young man," Jones said Friday evening of Wade. "I grew to like him and his family through the recruiting process. And he was a very good player for a year and a half for us.
"But then with everything he's been through, it was just so rough for him. I think the public knows a lot, but I don't think the public has any idea just what Jason went through and what his family went through.
"Just seeing him struggle was very hard. I think it would have had most people down and out. But he just kept fighting. And all of my admiration and respect and love for him continued to grow."
Wade called Jones on Friday and asked him to attend the ceremony, but Jones had already put the process into motion.
Jones called Kieran Donohue, ODU's interim head coach, and asked him if it was OK. After getting the OK from Donohue, he then called Dr. Wood Selig, ODU's director of athletics.
"I was so glad to hear coach Jones was coming," Wade said. "He's meant so much to me and my family throughout my career here. I wanted him to be there."
Saturday's game against Coastal Carolina will mark a dramatic return for Jones, who hasn't seen the interior of the Chartway Arena for a game since Dec. 9th when his Monarchs lost to James Madison, 84-69.
Jones had a heart attack while the team was in Hawaii in late December, and faced with upcoming treatments for prostate cancer, decided it was best for him not to coach the rest of the season.
Jones has lost nearly 30 pounds and has taken up an aggressive walking and exercise regime. But his contact with the team and ODU coaches has been limited to social calls. And he's clearly missed being around the players, coaches and fans.
"My guess is it's going to be emotional," Jones said of his return. "I think there's a very good chance of that."
Jones said he will take part in the pregame ceremonies, and likely will depart shortly thereafter. A crowd of more than 6,000 is expected for the game.
"I had a feeling that Jeff would come back for this game," said Ronnie Wade, Jason's father.
"He and Jason, they have such a special relationship."
Tyrone Williams, who transferred from Oregon and played one season for ODU, is the only other senior to be honored Saturday night. The Philadelphia native has had a solid season, averaging 12 points and 5.6 rebounds.
Donohue said Wade has contributed far more to ODU basketball than he knows.
"He's been such a great example for all of our players," Donohue said. "He makes us better because of his approach, because of his focus, because of his competitiveness, because of his energy and instincts and basketball IQ and his feel for the game.
"He will go out there and play any position on the floor and play well. He's a pleasure to be around and a pleasure to coach."
Wade's life changed on Jan. 23, 2020, when, after stealing the ball from Florida International's Devin Andrews, the FIU guard tried to steal it back, and instead, fell into a heap on top of Wade.
As he was knocked to the floor, Wade tore his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), one of the main forces that keeps a knee together. It usually takes about a year to fully recover from an ACL injury.
It was not only a big blow to Wade, but also to the team. Wade had scored 60 points and brought down 24 rebounds in ODU's three previous games. His 52 steals were among the most in the nation. Without Wade, the team faltered and finished 13-19.
Wade had come nearly all the way back from his ACL injury 10 months later when, while bringing down a routine rebound during practice, he ruptured his Achilles Tendon. And while players can come nearly all the way back from ACL injuries, the Achilles Tendon is another issue.
He knew he would never be the same and also knew, he would miss at least another year.
Between the injuries and the pandemic, which shut down ODU much of 2020, Wade fell into a deep depression. Jones was in constant contact with his parents, including his mother, Linda Wade. But as much as they and ODU staff tried, they could not prevent him from slipping into a very dark place.
The family prayed for their son twice a day, got him therapy and finally medication. Wade finally emerged from the depression and returned to ODU last season.
In all, he had missed a third of one season and the entire 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons.
It had been nearly three years since he had played and when he took the court in an exhibition game in November of 2022, his skills had obviously eroded. He was overweight, in part from the medication, and averaged 1.2 points per game, far below his 10.9-point average as a sophomore, in 2019-20.
He has since slimmed down – take off his shirt and you think you're looking at a GQ model – and his basketball IQ remains very high. He makes the steals, blocks drives to the basket and makes the passes that nobody sees coming.
But he's only playing 17 minutes and averaging 1.9 points per game. He doesn't jump as high or have the quickness he once had.
At the time of his first injury, he appeared on the way to becoming one of the best players in school history, with records to be set perhaps a future pro career in Europe.
Now, he's a part-time role player who comes off the bench and has no future as a basketball player, though perhaps a great future as a coach.
I can't think of another athlete who's shown more grit and determination than Wade, nor anyone who has faced adversity with such dignity.
Wade was a part of the 2018-2019 team, led by Ahmed Caver and B.J. Stith, that swept four games against in-state foes, upset nationally-ranked Syracuse, defeated Western Kentucky in the Conference USA championship game and finished 26-9.
"We all thought that we would just keep on winning," Wade said. But as he learned over the next few years, life can be hard. Things you take for granted came be taken from you with no warning.
"The injuries let me know that things can be taken away from you very quickly, very swiftly, without your control," he said. "I had never been in that situation before, where something was taken from me and there was nothing I could do about it.
"It kind of humbled me and woke me up.
"Before the injuries, there is no telling where I was headed. But I was able to shake what happened to me, really dig deep and find out who I was as a person, the competitor that I am today.
"I'm grateful for everything I've been through."
So are his parents, who will march into the arena Saturday night with their son and take part in the traditional presentation of a framed jersey.
If there was ever an ODU basketball family, it is the Wades. Ronnie was a forward for the ODU basketball team from 1982 through 1986. Linda was an ODU student. She didn't know Ronnie well, but caught a ride back to their hometown of Richmond one weekend from ODU.
The rest is history.
Their oldest son, Jordan, was a manager at ODU and has carved out a great career as a basketball referee. He's among the top high school refs in the Richmond area, and is also working Division III games.
Ronnie is philosophical about his son's injuries.
"We all have a plan," he said, speaking of his Catholic Christian religion. "Maybe his plan wasn't to play ball further.
"He has a story to tell. We don't know who he will impact. We don't know how many lives he will affect. But he will do great things.
"I told him he has a bright future. He's won already and he doesn't even realize it.
"A lot of people in his position would have quit. But he turned it around. He fought through it and he's blessed for it."
Linda Wade, who celebrates her birthday Saturday, said she will be fighting back tears as they enter the court.
"I will be a proud, proud parent," she said. "Jason ran a good race and this is just the beginning. Basketball was a vessel to get him to this point."
Jason Wade plays for the first time in almost three years in November of 2022.
Jason Wade became a spokesperson of sort for spreading the word that depression can be a serious illness. He spoke openly about his depression and about the need for people with depression to get help.
"Before I experienced it, I thought people could just will themselves to get back to normal," he said. "But when it hits you, you realize it's not like that.
"I don't know where I would be if I had not gotten help.
"I encourage everyone, if you think you might need help, go get help."
Former ODU guard Frank Smith, who works for the NCAA, was Ronnie Wade's roommate and they remain close. With the help of Dr. Selig, Smith arranged for Jason to attend a three-day event in Indianapolis to help him learn the business of sports.
"Jason made so many friends, developed so many contacts in his time at ODU, that will enrich his life," Ronnie Wade said.
As a mother, Linda Wade was broken-hearted to see her son struggle with depression.
"You never want to see your kids go through all the things Jason went through," she said. "But I know he is such a good person and strong-willed person that I didn't have any doubt he would come out on the other side.
"We had so much support, so much help.
"I really want to thank Monarch Nation for the support Jason and our family received throughout everything he's been through.
"I've had so many people send me personal notes and texts. A lot of them have been very touching and very inspirational. And I would share them all with Jason."
The Wade family isn't done with their travels with Monarch Nation. Saturday night following the game more than a dozen family members will gather for dinner and then on Sunday, they all head to a beach house for a few days.
Jason Wade with his family.
Then the family heads to Pensacola, Florida late next week, where the Sun Belt Tournament will be held.
Jason Wade is working on his Master of Science in physical education and expects to graduate next December. ODU has guaranteed him a scholarship and a place on the basketball staff as a graduate assistant at least until he graduates, Jones said.
Wade said he is grateful to the school for taking care of him.
"I'm not sure what I'm going to do, but I think I would like to be a coach," he said. "I think it is something I would enjoy."
Jones and Donohue said he is already a coach on the court.
"Jason would be a great coach," Jones said.
Wade said ODU's 6-22 record is not what he had envisioned for his senior year, but he tries to look at the glass as half full, not half empty.
"Losing is never fun, especially when you are a fierce competitor, and I'm a competitor," he said.
"I've talked to multiple people that are close to my circle and they remind me that given what I've been through, it's a moral victory every time I'm able to step onto the court and come off the court in one piece.
"They're right. It's a moral victory that I'm out there and competing."
And able to celebrate the end of his career with the coach who recruited and nurtured him.
Minium is ODU's Senior Executive Writer for Athletics. Contact him at hminium@odu.edu or follow him on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram
Minium: ODU's Jeff Jones Returns to Chartway Arena Saturday to Pay Homage to Jason Wade on Senior Night
