By Ben Okazawa
For Adika Peter-McNeilly, basketball and family have always been intertwined and that was no different during his time at Ryerson. His teammates and coaches became his second family through his four years with the university.
Jahmal Jones was a part of that family with Peter-McNeilly for two years between 2013 and 2015, and although the two didn’t become close initially, that changed quickly when they were paired up as roommates for the team’s away games. Peter-McNeilly recalled when then-head coach Roy Rana put the two of them together.
“[Rana] probably didn’t know we would be close friends from that,” he chuckled. “But, from that day on, I’ve felt like I can talk to [Jones] about anything.”
After developing a bond so quickly, Jones and Peter-McNeilly lived together on campus during the summer of 2015 after Jones graduated from the business technology management program. Now, nearly a decade after they started rooming together on those road trips, they remain close friends and teammates on the reigning Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL) champions—the Edmonton Stingers.
After a successful basketball career at his Mississauga high school, Jones was heavily sought after by teams across the country. He chose Ryerson without so much as a campus visit, despite offers from Carleton University and the University of Ottawa—two of the most established programs in the country. “I’ve always wanted to be a trailblazer,” Jones recalled. “I [chose to attend Ryerson] to build something.”
“I [chose to attend Ryerson] to build something”
His decision paid off. Jones came in and made an immediate impact; a first-team Ontario University Athletics (OUA) All-Star as a first-year, he averaged 17.2 points per game. In his second and third years with the Rams, Jones continued to impress his coaches on and off the court as he ranked among the top 15 and top 10 scorers in the OUA, respectively, finished top five in assists both years and remained a strong role model in the locker room.
“[Jones] is a lead-by-example type,” said former Rams assistant coach Jermaine Small. “When your best player is your hardest worker, that’s why teams are good.”
In Jones’ fourth year with the Rams, Peter-McNeilly transferred to Ryerson from Clarendon College, a community college program in rural Texas. Initially recruited by the Rams coming out of high school, Peter-McNeilly took his chances down south.
However, the Scarborough, Ont. native all but shuddered when he described Clarendon: no Walmart, no McDonald’s and the town basically shuts down after 10 p.m. according to Peter-McNeilly. After a year of feeling out of place in the small town, he made the decision to return home.
Jones remembered initially having somewhat of a rivalry with Peter-McNeilly, or ‘Deeks’ as he calls him. Since they played the same position, he saw the young guard coming in and battling for his minutes.
But after the two built a bond in those countless shared hotel rooms staying up for hours talking about anything from video games to family, their relationship shifted from a rivalry to camaraderie.
“We’ve always played well together,” said Jones. “I get to the paint and he’s a great shooter, very poised. Opposites kind of attract in that sense.”
In the 2014-15 season, the Rams were led to one of their best seasons in program history by Jones, who was named an All-Canadian for the first time in his five-year U Sports career. Peter-McNeilly performed well too, making an OUA All-Star team as one of the Rams’ top three scorers. The team also went 30-6 and closed out the season with a bronze medal at the U Sports Final 8 National Championship, the first national medal in program history.
Jones left his stamp on Ryerson, transforming the basketball program from a championship afterthought to a national contender, just as he had promised he would when he committed as a bright-eyed teenager in 2010.
He graduated as the Rams’ all-time leader in assists and steals, all while scoring the second-most points in team history.
When Jones and Peter-McNeilly were living together on campus, they further strengthened that bond. No longer teammates, the two still trained, ate and lived together in the offseason.
“When your best player is your hardest worker, that’s why teams are good”
As Jones headed overseas to begin what would become a successful professional career, Peter-McNeilly took the reins and helped lead the Rams to OUA championships in 2016 and 2017, and in those same years at nationals, bronze and silver medals respectively. He too left his mark on the program, being named Ryerson’s inaugural First-Team All-Canadian in his fourth and final year as a Ram.
“Deeks is almost like [NBA legend, Manu] Ginóbili,” said Small. “You know he’s going to perform in the clutch, and he’s just a winner.”
A lot changed for the pair since they parted ways when Jones left Canada in 2015.
They each went overseas to play professionally, growing and learning as players and as people as they journeyed through Europe’s various pro basketball leagues from Denmark to Romania. Eventually, both returned to Canada to team up in the quickly-growing CEBL under the guidance of familiar face Jermaine Small, now the head coach and general manager of the Stingers.
Peter-McNeilly was a part of the inaugural Stingers squad in 2019, but Jones took longer to convince. He liked to spend his summers recovering from the season—his physical play style doesn’t do his body any favours—but eventually the allure of playing with Small and Peter-McNeilly won him over. Jones headed to Edmonton to join the reigning CEBL champions last spring, and he’s glad he did.
“It’s probably one of the best experiences I’ve had as a basketball professional,” he said.
In August 2021, Jones and Peter-McNeilly did what they do best as they shared the court in a 101-65 blowout victory to clinch the Stingers’ second straight CEBL title. Small said that, although they’ve grown as players and people since he first met them as student-athletes all those years ago, not everything has changed in the two—and he’s grateful for that.
“I don’t have to coach the young guys as much because I have Jones and Adika coaching them,” he laughed. “That leadership is something they’ve had since Ryerson.”
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