LAS VEGAS — Tyrin Jones entered his freshman season at UNLV already dealing with the shoulder problem that would follow him for most of the year. He tore his labrum and dislocated the shoulder in August, then played through the injury rather than undergoing surgery before his college career had started.
Jones managed the shoulder through the early part of the season before aggravating it against New Mexico. He missed time after the setback, later returned and finished the year before finally having the damage repaired after UNLV’s season ended.
“I tore my labrum and dislocated my arm in August of last year,” Jones said Tuesday. “I just been playing all season, and I finally got the surgery.”
Jones underwent surgery April 15 in Los Angeles to repair the labrum and has spent the months since rehabilitating. Josh Pastner said Jones will be cleared for contact Oct. 1, marking his first live work since UNLV’s season ended against Tulsa in the NIT.
“He’s out of contact until his first day of contact will be October 1,” Pastner said. “It will be the first time he’ll be allowed to have contact since when we played Tulsa in the NIT.”
Jones still became one of UNLV’s most productive players as a freshman. He averaged 11.9 points and five rebounds while leading the Mountain West with 2.2 blocks per game, giving Pastner a finisher around the basket and a defender who could erase mistakes at the rim even while managing the shoulder.
He shot 59.4% from the field, with 241 of his 249 attempts coming inside the arc. Most of his offense came through screening, rolling, finishing around the rim, running the floor and cleaning up misses rather than operating away from the basket.
That is what made the open portion of Tuesday’s practice more noticeable. Jones made several 3-pointers while reporters watched after spending much of the offseason working on his shot during a period when he could not participate in full contact.
“That’s what the coach has been trying to really emphasize, get my feet set, get my arm up,” Jones said.
Jones believes the work can carry into games. “I think I have a good chance to make a lot of threes this year,” he said.
UNLV does not need him to stop doing what made him productive as a freshman. Jones’ primary value still comes from screening, rolling, finishing, rebounding and protecting the rim. The 3-point shot matters because it could force defenders to play him differently.
If Jones makes enough shots that his defender has to follow him away from the lane, Terrance Ford Jr. or Sebastian Mack sees one fewer body waiting near the rim when either guard turns the corner. Jones can still screen and roll, but he can also pull the opposing big away from the basket when UNLV wants to open the lane.
That would be a significant addition to a freshman shot profile in which Jones attempted only eight 3-pointers all season. It does not require him to become a perimeter-oriented forward. It only requires opposing defenses to believe they cannot completely leave him when he steps outside.
The first test will come once contact returns. Jones has spent nearly six months rehabilitating without the type of live work that will determine whether he can finish through defenders, rebound in traffic and defend around the basket without thinking about the shoulder.
This preseason already feels different to him because he is no longer preparing to play with the brace he needed last season.
“It’s been a lot different,” Jones said. “I don’t have my brace on anymore. So, I’m getting more healthy, and I’m just trusting the coaches, trusting the guys, and it’s gonna be a big improvement from my freshman year to my sophomore year.”
That trust was also part of Jones’ decision to remain at UNLV. He knew surgery was coming and said he wanted to recover around people who already knew him beyond what he could provide on the basketball court.
“Big reason because I trust the coaches,” Jones said. “I know they can really put me in the position I am. And a big thing was, you know, I knew I needed to get surgery, so I needed to be around people that truly know me for me, know me as Tyrin and not Tyrin basketball player.”
Jones stayed while much of the roster around him changed. He was the freshman learning from older teammates last season. Now, as a sophomore and one of UNLV’s returners, he said part of his responsibility is helping the newest group learn where to be and become comfortable with one another.
“Me being the freshman last year, being with a team of older guys, and then me being a sophomore is just me kind of becoming a leader and just helping all the new guys,” Jones said.
For Jones, leadership has been more practical than ceremonial. He described it as helping teammates, speaking when something needs to be said and spending enough time together away from practice that the group develops familiarity before the season starts.
“To be a leader, just helping the guys and just being that voice when everybody needs it,” Jones said.
He pointed to Ford, Sebastian Mack, Jeremy Foumena and Issac Williamson as players who have also emerged as voices within the roster. Jones said some of the chemistry was built through meals and time away from basketball, while UNLV’s 6 a.m. conditioning sessions on the football field forced the team through uncomfortable work together.
“The chemistry has been built early,” Jones said. “Us, 6 a.m. on a football field, no teams will be doing that. So us being able to come outside, sun’s still gone, and just us just fighting on the football field, that’s a good thing to bring us all together.”
Jones has spent most of that period waiting for permission to do the one thing he has not been allowed to do: play through contact. That changes Oct. 1.
He enters that return after averaging 11.9 points, leading the Mountain West in blocks and making nearly 60% of his shots as a freshman despite playing much of the season with a damaged shoulder. Now UNLV gets to see what the same player looks like with the shoulder repaired — and whether the perimeter work he added during the rehabilitation follows him into live basketball.
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