Outworked early in his career, Curtis Jones now makes his mark with Iowa State basketball

When Curtis Jones was coming out of high school, he felt overlooked by many colleges.

He wasn't in the spotlight much during his high school experience in Minnesota. He remained under the radar during his humble days at Indian Hills Community College. He broke onto the scene a bit at the University at Buffalo and is now a major contributor for an Iowa State team that made the Sweet 16. Throughout that journey, Jones has proven a lot of people wrong.

Still, that trek from the JUCO levels to becoming a key contributor for a championship-level team didn't come without learning a lesson along the way.

After a successful season at Indian Hills, averaging 12.1 points, six rebounds and 5.5 assists per game, Jones got his chance at the University at Buffalo. With the Bulls he came off the bench, recording an average of just 2.5 points and 1.3 assists per game. At first, Jones said he didn't understand why others were getting opportunities he wasn't. He felt his talent was sufficient, but the results weren't showing

It took watching his teammate at Buffalo, Jeenathan Williams, work harder than everyone else on the team for him to understand.

"Seeing that and the opportunities they were getting, I was seeing the recipe to success," Jones said. "I wanted to take that in for myself."

The following season, Jones exploded as a starter for 15 points per game, including a pair of 30-point outings and 10 games which he scored at least 20 points. Then he entered the transfer portal and landed at Iowa State, finally reaching the level he always felt he was capable of.

Heading into the 2024-25 campaign, Jones is one of the Cyclones' most important players, regardless of whether he comes off the bench or is in the starting lineup. He cemented himself as that during the home stretch of last season, pointing at the TCU game on Feb. 10 as the turning point. From then on, he averaged 17.8 points per game, a massive uptick from the 9.7 average he had early in the season.

"The TCU game on the road, I feel like he really stepped up for us and you started to see that confidence grow," said Iowa State coach T.J. Otzelberger. "When we went through to the end of league play and into the postseason, there wasn't anyone playing any more confidently than him."

Jones admitted there were struggles early on as he worked to find his role on a team loaded with talented guards. Still, Jones found himself recording at least 20 minutes a game, which boosted that self-confidence.

"It shows T.J.'s trust in me as well as the staff allowing me to go out there and play freely," Jones said. "Even when I went through my struggles, they still believed in me. I was still getting minutes and it really showed out towards the middle to the end."

Jones' path to stardom is becoming more common in the transfer portal era. Taking a couple of stops at other colleges before finding the right home isn't exactly rare in today's college landscape.

Yet, it didn't make Jones' journey from the JUCO ranks to a key contributor for a preseason national title-caliber squad any easier. Still, Jones doesn't regret a single moment of it. It helped him become the most strong-willed person he knows.

"There's no other option but to get through it," Jones said. "I'd rather get through it than quit."

Eli McKown covers high school sports and wrestling for the Des Moines Register. Contact him at Emckown@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @EMcKown23.