Minutes don't tell the story

What would you honestly expect of a senior who plays for one of the best women's basketball teams in the country and yet sees the court for less time than anyone else?

A grouch? A divisive force?

How about the glue that holds her team together?

The third choice may not seem at all logical, but it's the best way to introduce Takisha Jones. And that's not Jones talking, but her teammates and her coach, who understand why more than anyone else.

"We rely on her," coach Gail Goestenkors said. "I would say she brings us together. She gets us up for every single game. Whenever we have recruits on campus, she's usually the one they love."

This tells the story of a player who has been on the court for 22 minutes this season, and off it for the other 938. Yet, there's no other way to describe Takisha Jones. By her own terms, she's loud and outgoing. For the women's basketball team, she's turned into the unquestioned leader.

"I'm a very emotional person," Jones said. "When I know that someone loves me, I love them back. I know my team loves me so much. They have given me confidence when I didn't have confidence. I'm not even talking about basketball. They were always there."

Her teammates are there for her, but no one is there for her teammates more than Jones. She was recruited by Goestenkors in part for her athletic potential, but she became something completely different.

Jones is just fine doing what she has always done well; help lead the team from the bench. She's the one seen standing up on almost every possession, encouraging her teammates and keeping them focused.

But she's also the one who off the court does so much more.

"She's just a very special person," junior Lauren Rice said. "She's taught me so much about everything.... She definitely brings us together. She makes it all fun again."

And fun is most important to Jones. She has had a lot to deal with during her time at Duke. Last year, Jones found out that her mother had a drug problem and was in rehabilitation back home.

Her mother has recovered since then and will be making her first visit to Durham next week, but during that important time in Jones' life, her teammates gave back.

"I was going through a really hard time," Jones said. "Coach G was there for me, and she was really considerate. My teammates were great. If my team is giving me their all, I'm going to give them my all when they need it most, and that's on the court."

Jones says her beliefs all fit into a kind of religion, appropriately dubbed 'Takishaism.'

"That's my religion," she said. "I believe in spirituality and just people connecting, like souls. I believe in giving people your all and loving, being honest and open. It's just being true to people because then people will be true to you. That's really my religion."

It is these kinds of beliefs that can catch people off guard at first.

"When I first met Takisha I had to step back a little bit because she's very real," sophomore Rochelle Parent said. "She's the most real person I've met. That was scary because I didn't know what she'd tell me about myself. All of her emotions and all of her feelings are genuine, and that's what stands out the most about her."

Emotion helped convince Goestenkors to give Jones a scholarship, and emotion will be most important for Jones' next step in life. She hopes to entertain, either through singing, dancing or acting.

Jones plans to move to California either after graduation or next fall. She'll begin the process of making contacts soon, though for now there are other things on her mind, like helping guide Duke toward a perfect ACC record and a deep run into March.

And on a team loaded with so many veterans and so much talent, it wouldn't be a big stretch to think players might get disgruntled over playing time or their role on offense. Fortunately for Duke, 'Takishaism' has spread down the roster.

"We're in this together," Jones said. "We've grown as people; we're family. We've been through so much as a team. But one thing we always do in every game is stick together. We're there for each other."

To the rest of her teammates and coach, a big reason why is Takisha Jones. Her athletic ability may never have translated to the college game, but her impact on Duke's program has been powerful all the same.

"[Being a leader] is my job," Jones said. "My scholarship is my job. I look at basketball like a business. My salary is my Duke education. My role in the company is to be an emotional leader. So if my employer tells me that's my job, and I have to do it well to keep my scholarship, that's how I look at it. It's not hard, because that's me. I love my teammates and I love my team."