Why Trinity Jones – One of the Nation’s Top Recruits – Nearly Quit Basketball in Grade School

In an exclusive Q&A with High School On SI, the Naperville Central star discusses her near departure from the game, being anointed “the next Candace Parker,” and her recruitment, as well as overcoming injury, winning gold with Team USA, and chasing history in her final high school season

Prior to her senior season, Naperville Central star Trinity Jones talks about her amazing high school journey. / Illinois Interactive

In her highly anticipated varsity debut as a freshman at Naperville Central (Illinois) in late November 2022, Trinity Jones scored 18 points. The comparisons to the school’s most famous basketball alum, college and WNBA legend Candace Parker, soon followed after she dropped an impressive 19 points, snagged nine rebounds, swiped three steals and blocked two shots in their ensuing game, a 56-41 win against Homewood-Flossmoor.

But despite her tender age and being flattered by the comparison, Jones was adamant that she was ready to forge her own path, telling the Chicago Tribune, “I get ‘Oh, she’s the next Candace Parker’ all the time. But I really want to make a name for myself, and that’s all that matters.”

The talented 6-foot-1 guard/small forward unequivocally accomplished that in short order. Prior to her sophomore season, she helped Team USA to an undefeated record and a Gold Medal at the FIBA Americas U16 Championships in Merida, Mexico where she shot 58% from the field and averaged 9.5 points, 6.7 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game during the tournament.

Now entering her senior year and ranked among the most elite prospects in the Class of 2026 since entering middle school, Jones will soon make a fortunate college coaching staff ecstatic. 

As she prepares for her final prep season while deciding between scholarship offers from the likes of Tennessee, LSU, UCLA, TCU, North Carolina, Oregon, Texas and Oklahoma, among a host of others, she took some time to talk about her journey thus far and what she’s looking for in the days ahead.

High School On SI Q&A with Trinity Jones

Let’s start with the essence of Trinity Jones from the very beginning.

“I was born in Chicago and grew up in Naperville. I have an older brother and sister and my mom put us in everything when we were young - soccer, volleyball, basketball, dance, piano, gymnastics, you name it. She grew up in Chicago, as did my dad. My mom has three brothers, she’s the only girl. Coming from the South Side of Chicago and being the only girl in a house full of brothers, she’s fearless, a bold woman that will ask the questions that most people are afraid to. But once you get past that she’s very kind and strong in her faith. She firmly believes in giving back knowing that those blessings always come back.”

When did basketball begin to take on a prominent role in your life?

“I started playing at four at the YMCA but that was more about having fun and being with my friends. Around the third grade is when I began to get serious about it. But that initial basketball experience wasn’t very enjoyable for me.”

Why not, what happened?

“I was always advanced athletically, so I was playing on a team with older fourth graders. And they were very mean and unwelcoming to me, so I stopped playing that year altogether.”

You obviously didn’t quit, so what changed the next year?

“I came back with more confidence. And there was a different group of girls on that team who I had established relationships with previously. We all wanted to win, didn’t care who scored the most points and just happened to be friends that were playing together. That made a huge difference.”

When did you have the epiphany that you were starting to separate from some of your peers, talent-wise, and that basketball could be a passport to some pretty cool experiences?

“That lightbulb went off for me in the seventh grade. My first love was originally soccer, but that seventh grade year was when I got my first basketball scholarship offer from the University of Maryland.”

Wow, Maryland offered you in the seventh grade? That’s pretty impressive. What were they looking at to pull that trigger on a kid that was two years away from high school?

“I was always playing up against older competition and had some size at about 5-foot-10. I was playing 16U at that time against high school sophomores and juniors. Every time I stepped on the court I gave it my all and played with an extreme competitiveness and a desire to win. My skills were still developing but I was advanced athletically and they could see my quickness and versatility. After that first offer, I knew I could hoop for real.”

Prior to her sophomore year, Trinity Jones helped Team USA to an undefeated record and a Gold Medal at the FIBA Americas U16 Championships in Merida, Mexico / USA Basketball

How did your support system keep you from getting a big head when those first offers started coming in?

“My brother and sister were obviously excited for me but didn’t care that I was starting to be seen as a big-time recruit. At home, they didn't treat me any different, telling me to do the dishes or take out the trash. My mom helped me stay grounded as well. She’s my biggest hater, but in a loving sense. She’ll tell me when I need to take some days off or what I need to be working on to improve when I’m in the gym.”

What followed after that first Maryland offer?

“Marquette offered when I was in the seventh grade as well, followed by Illinois, Dayton and Michigan when I was an eighth grader. Before I started high school I already had 20 scholarship offers.”

Speaking of that advanced athleticism that you mentioned earlier, when did you catch your first dunk and what did that feel like?

“At the CPIII camp three years ago. The adrenaline was just flowing and everyone was just jumping around and really excited for me. It felt great and was something that I wanted to continue to experience over and over again.”

There’s an intelligence that naturally comes out when talking to you. Do you have a favorite book? And what’s your favorite subject?

“My favorite subject is English, I like writing essays about how I feel. It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover, that’s my favorite book. I’ve read it at least four times. It was recently made into a movie and watching it made me love it ten times more. It’s about the cycles of emotional and physical abuse in intimate relationships. This young woman meets a young surgeon, they fall in love and have a baby. But he’s physically abusive towards her. She realizes that she does not want her daughter to grow up in that type of environment, which she herself grew up in. He begs for her forgiveness, asking her to stay. She asks him how he would react if, when their daughter grew up, she told him she was being abused by her boyfriend or husband.”

You’ve had some setbacks, most notably tearing your Anterior Cruciate Ligament a year ago. Talk about working your way through that.

“That mentally destroyed me. Sometimes I’d have trouble walking to the kitchen, or I’d fall down. There were some days when I wanted to give up, where I didn’t want to shower or change my clothes. I’d been hurt before with a concussion, a severely sprained ankle and a broken finger and never felt pain. But recovering from the ACL was a battle.”

What helped you fight through that?

“My brother pulled me aside one day and said, ‘Lemme talk to you for a second.’ He’s an Engineering major at Iowa State and doesn’t really talk about his feelings or emotions with me. He said, ‘Trin, do you want to play basketball or not? It really doesn’t matter to me, I don’t care, I love you either way. But what you’re doing now is not going to help you grow.’ That had a big impact on me. After my second surgery I started bending my knee in rehab and getting my full range of motion back. When AAU and camps started to roll around, I didn’t feel like myself. It low-key angered me when coaches would say, ‘We understand you’re not at full strength right now,’ when I wasn’t performing the way I was accustomed to. But his words helped me recapture that hunger to work as hard as I could, with a positive outlook, to come back as an even better player.”

You mentioned your intensity and competitiveness when you’re on the court, but what are some small things that happen within a game that make you smile on the inside?

“Getting an And One in a critical moment of a tight game where I can just scream, and delivering a really sweet no-look pass to my teammate that leads to a basket.”

What are your goals heading into your final high school season?

“As a team, I want us to win regionals. It’s going to be a challenge but we have the potential. I’ve never made it to State’s, so I definitely want to get there this year. Individually, I want to win the Gatorade Player of the Year and be named Miss Basketball in the state of Illinois and a McDonald’s All-American.”

You’ve got a big decision coming up. What are you looking for in terms of where you want to spend the next few years for your college experience and education?

“I want to go to a school down south that provides an excellent educational environment. I want to be around and inspired by a coaching staff that cares about winning just as much as they care about me as a person, and about my future once the ball stops bouncing. I want to play in a disciplined offense that also offers some individual freedom. And I want to play with talented, unselfish and driven  teammates for a coaching staff that teaches the game in ways that will help me grow.”