Pickup basketball game at Cape park done for fun and unity

Just days from now — months after wrapping up his basketball-playing career at Southeast Missouri State — Isiah Jones will cross the Atlantic Ocean to begin a new life as a professional basketball player in Cyprus.

But before he left the place he’s called home for the past two years, the man they call “Hoopie” wanted to try to make a difference in Cape Girardeau.

On Saturday night, Jones held the Stop the Violence basketball game, bringing together members of the community and local law enforcement for an evening of pickup basketball and unity at Indian Park.

“The neighborhood I’m from — I’m actually from Illinois — there’s a lot of violence. Unnecessary violence,” Jones said. “You can all get along and everything will run smoother, but a lot of people resort to violence and I just wanted to have a get together to let them know the police officers love everyone in the community and a lot of stuff going on in a lot of places, not just here but everywhere, and I want to let everyone in Cape Girardeau and Illinois know that we all love each other.”

Southeast Missouri State coach Rick Ray watches the Stop the Violence basketball game Saturday night at Indian Park in Cape Girardeau.Fred Lynch

The event was the brainchild of Jones, who always had basketball to turn to when he was growing up, saying the park was his escape when he was dealing with problems in his life. He wanted to share that outlet and give people something positive to talk about.

To help his cause, Jones enlisted the help of Southeast Missouri State men’s and women’s basketball coaches Rick Ray and Rekha Patterson,

respectively, along with basketball players from the community alongside police and firefighters.

The group played a loose pickup game for about 30 minutes in front of about 60 people at the park, police vehicles and firetrucks — some donning temporary court lighting — lining the curb along William Street.

“It was real fun,” Jones said. “Actually, some of the officers, I didn’t know they were that good. A couple of them could really jump, and a couple of them could shoot, too. It was a real fun game.”

The officers embraced the opportunity as a way to reach into the community and share their message as well.

“It was absolutely awesome,” said Tim Lester, a patrolman with the Jackson Police Department. “For me, anytime that I can prove that police officers aren’t just absolute some menacing thing out to get people in trouble, I love that. I love to show people we’re normal people. I would do this every day if I could.”

Jackson Police Cpl. Ron Styer, who is a former senior league basketball referee, echoed that sentiment.

“Knock down the walls,” Styer said.

Even during the game, the vibe was all positive, whether it was Jones passing to himself off a backboard to dunk or some comical and flashy dribbling on the perimeter, there were always smiles, even from Ray and Patterson, who had to watch their charges forget all about fundamentals and defense.

The message was clear — emblazoned across the back of T-shirts donned by all the players — CAPE GIRARDEAU CARES ABOUT EVERYONE.

“It’s a shame when you see what’s going on in our society,” Ray said. “One thing that ends up happening is people think that if you’re for ‘black lives matter,’ that you’re for law enforcement people losing their lives. And that police are against ‘black lives matter.’ The message we’ve got to send out is, ‘I’m for all lives matter.’ I don’t care if it’s African-American, Caucasian, Asian, Hispanic. To me, we’ve got to make sure we’re doing everything we can to bring the community together and not have opposition.

“I read a long time ago, I think it was Bill Bradley, and Bill Bradley said he played basketball, and it was a great experience for him because it was the first time in his life that he was a minority. He said it really helped him understand some of the cultural issues.”

Ray was proud to see one of his former charges take the initiative to make a difference and reach out to the community, and that once the university cleared his participation with the NCAA, it was a no-brainer to play a part.

“I think anything we can do to galvanize the community and bring everyone together on one accord, I think we’ve got to take advantage of this,” Ray said. “I was really proud of Hoopie for coming up with this concept and putting something together like this. It goes to show he’s become part of the community and cares about the community. I was really happy with his effort to do this.

“I think the one thing is it sends a strong signal that when young men come to play here at Southeast Missouri State, they’re not just a rent-a-player. They’re coming here and becoming part of the community and it ends up meaning something to them. And also to see him maturing and take the initiative to do something positive like this. I think we need to make sure that we take notice of this and understand that, hey, we did a great job here, and it was something that was his own concept. ... It was solely his idea. I just wanted to make sure I did anything I could to support.”

By the end of the night, Hoopie was happy with the result.

“I played basketball for Southeast and I’ve done been in the community for the past two years. I’ve got a brother and a sister who stay in the community of Cape. I look at Cape as home just like Illinois,” Jones said. “I do a lot of stuff in Illinois, so this time I wanted to do something in Cape Girardeau to try to help the community as well.

“We don’t always have to resort to violence. You can always turn bad into good. You’ve seen the outcome — it was really good.”