University of South Alabama women's basketball redshirt freshman Savannah Jones has gone through what has seemed like one setback after another over the last six years of her life. However, she continues to be resilient in whatever comes her way.
 
Born in Mountain View, Calif., Jones grew up in a military family as her father, Roshaun, is a member of the United States Air Force. While the family lived in Arizona, they were going through a rough patch and were looking for a change.
 
"We were going through a tough time when he got orders," Jones said. "He prayed and asked God for a change. The next day he went to work and they gave him orders to go to Turkey, but he didn't want to go to Turkey. He asked them if he could get his orders changed and they said 'You can go Mississippi'."
 
The family landed in Ocean Springs, Miss., where she attended St. Martin High School. Jones showed the level of talent she possessed early in her prep career as she played on the varsity team during her eighth grade season. But, Jones would suffer her first setback, a torn ACL, as she was headed into her freshman season.
 
After recovering from the injury, she suffered another ACL tear a year later during sophomore season. During that time, she came with her team for a basketball camp on South Alabama's campus and her journey of becoming a Jaguar began.
 
"I remember being here for a basketball camp my team played in," Jones said. "I had surgery again from when I tore my ACL a second time during my 10th grade year, but I was on the sideline unable to participate in the camp."
 
USA head coach Terry Fowler was watching her team participate in the camp when he was alerted to watch out for Jones despite her not being able to participate at the time.
 
"Savannah's high school team, St. Martin, came over to a team camp either the first or second summer we were here," Fowler said. "She was coming off a torn ACL and she wasn't playing with her with team, but her coach told me you need to watch this young lady and make sure you keep your eye on her. In between games, she would go out on the court and start dribbling and shooting, and I said to myself, 'Okay, we need to keep our eye on this girl'."
 
Even with other schools recruiting her, Jones knew she wanted to end up in Mobile.
 
"After that day, the coaches stayed connected with me through the whole process," Jones said. "Even after that second tear, they stayed with me. They were persistent. The other colleges fell back because of the second tear, but the coaches here were consistent. Even when I was on the phone with other coaches, I knew my heart was here [South Alabama]."
 
Having committed to the Jags and playing through two seasons without a season-ending injury, Jones came to watch USA play Appalachian State on Feb. 27, 2016, while on a visit. Her way back home was an adventure and she is lucky to be alive.
 
"I was on my way back home on the freeway and I fell asleep," Jones said. "I hit the rail on the side of the road and the car spun off the road. An 18-wheeler passed by me, but God kept me safe and I survived without a scratch. The tires were just flat and I walked out safe."
 
However, after dodging the bullet, Jones' life would be turned upside down just a month later as on March 28, she would suffer the loss of her older sister Sierra, who died in a single-car accident in Mississippi. Sierra was a freshman at the University of Southern Mississippi and had just celebrated her 19th birthday two weeks prior to the accident. Savannah and her older sister were the best of friends.
 
Fowler knew the two were close and knew the loss would be hard for her.
 
"The toughest thing was the loss of her sister," Fowler said. "They were thick as thieves, they were tight. You would have thought they were twins since they were so close."
 
After the accident, Savannah changed the number she wore in games from 22 to 14 for a variety of reasons, one of which was to honor her sister.
 
"Her number was 14 in high school," Jones said of her late sister. "Her birthday is on March 14, 14 days after my car accident. It was also 14 days after her birthday that she passed. I looked in the Bible and the number 14 means salvation and that number has just stuck with me."
 
In her first game after making the switch to her sister's number for the South Mississippi All-Star Showcase, Jones went off, scoring 39 points and taking home MVP honors. Jones said the game meant a lot to not only herself, but her family, too.
 
"It was really emotional because it was the first game she wasn't at, but I knew from then on that basketball was going to bigger than myself," Jones said.
 
Another South Alabama student-athlete affected by the tragedy was men's basketball junior Roderick Sikes. Sikes was in the same graduating class as Sierra and the two families became close friends after the Jones' move to Ocean Springs. Sikes knew he wanted to honor his late friend and found a way to do it.
 
"They've been like a second family to me," Sikes said. "When I heard Sierra passed away. It was a big blow to me. Sierra played basketball, and her number was 14 and I always wanted to find a way to play for her. Savannah and I talked about it and we decided that one way we wanted to keep her alive was to wear her number. I took it a step farther and ever since she passed away, the game shoes I play in I customize them on Nike and on the inside of the tongue of the shoe it has her name on it."
 
Fowler knows Jones misses her sister, but he and the coaching staff try their best to keep her going whenever she might have a tough day.
 
"That's always been a struggle for her," Fowler said. "But I just try to tell her that her sister is looking down at her. Her sister wants her to accomplish her dreams and her goals. I think that's why she is persistent now. She was always persistent for her own goals, but now she is doing it for something bigger than herself. She has days where she struggles. You can tell she is thinking about her sister. We just try to tell her just to think about, 'What would your sister want you to do?' You know her sister would want her to push through. I think that's been a big motivation for her as she continues to reach higher and higher."
 
After getting through the tragedy as best as she could, she began her career in a South Alabama jersey. After managing just eight points in her first four games, Jones began to hit her stride during her true freshman season as she scored eight or more in the next four, including her first mark in double-figures with a 12-point effort in a 55-48 win over Southern at the Mitchell Center during her eighth game as a Jaguar. After the game, she received devastating news, as she was told she had suffered her third ACL tear five years, cutting her first collegiate season Jaguar short.
 
Jones, being the high-character person she is, took the high-road and began the same process she has been through twice and tried to come back the best she could be. The fruits of her labor and her basketball talent are being shown in full force this season. Through 20 games played, she has had 15 double-figure scoring efforts, three of which have been 20 or more points with one of those coming in an upset road-win at North Carolina when she scored a career-high 22 points. Jones has made 48 three-point buckets, second-most in program history as a freshman, including a 6-for-7 effort from beyond the arc against ULM, tying for the fourth most made three-pointers in a game by an individual in program history.
 
The performances Jones has put on this season does not surprise Fowler.
 
"Prior to her getting hurt last year, we started to see her have the type of games she is having this season," Fowler said. "Not the big numbers she's had this year, but she started to get there. The biggest adjustment for her was the defensive end of the floor. She probably hasn't been asked to do as many things defensively as we ask her to do. Prior to her injury, we thought she was starting to figure it out on the defensive end of the floor and offensively started carrying the load for us."
 
Jones attributes her resiliency through it all to God, and thanks the training staff for getting her back from her latest injury.
 
"It really lets me know that God has my back," Jones said. "Basketball is a platform for me to encourage others. It's more than basketball to me. I know I can only play for so many years. I know I can use basketball for something greater than myself. When I tore my ACL last season, I was determined to come back and our athletic trainer Trinity [Lambeth] knew that. She put her all into making sure that I was going to come back better than I was before."
 
Jones says that she doesn't care what her numbers are this season as long as the team wins. Her goal for this season is win the SBC Tournament and make it to the NCAA Tournament. So far that is what the team has done posting a 15-6 overall record and a 8-2 mark in the Sun Belt. USA currently sits in second place and is off to its best SBC start in program history since conference expansion for the 1991-92 season
 
But in the end, though, she knows the reason why she continues to battle through her journey on and off the court, for her sister Sierra.
 
"I knew that when I came here, I wanted to make a statement and just do it for her," Jones said. "Everything I do, I do it for her. It helps me remember why I am doing it and why I am here. She is my why."

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