Casey Jones and Gee McGhee's friendship has reached legendary status. Said head coach John Shulman,"I don't know if it's Bonnie and Clyde, Starsky and Hutch, or Batman and Robin, or whoever. Those are the dynamic duo."
Both guys are Louisiana natives, where they met playing AAU ball. But the friendship got off to a rocky start. Said McGhee,"At first I didn't like him because me and him were competing for the same position." Added Jones,"I didn't like him either honestly. I thought he was a show-off. Our coach put us against each other. It was like trash-talking. We were the only two in the gym talking. We were talking to each other. It was crazy."
McGhee and Jones traveled together on their recruiting visit to UTC. And when Jones decided to commit. Said McGhee,"Maybe two days after he told me. I was like you know what, I'm going to go ahead and commit with you man because I like playing with you."
And the dynamic duo wound up starting the Mocs first game of the year as freshmen. Said Jones,"To come to a Division one college and start next to each other as friends. That was great. I never envisioned that." Said Shulman,"It's hard to be a leader as a freshman. They are so competitive, and so vocal, and so loud. They are going to be phenomenal leaders some day."
When Jones went down with a broken leg, McGhee was their to pick him up as only a true friend can. Said Jones,"He was talking trash to me when I was injured, like I was still on the court. He never let me feel injured in that sense."
