I Can… I Will… I Won’t Quit!

Jim “Basketball” Jones is all about helping individuals developing and harnessing their inner strength and a positive mindset to lead a better more fulfilling life.  He believes we all learn over time and at our own pace, but we can find our own success if we persevere and never stop learning.  We have to take ownership in our effort, be willing to learn from others and believe in ourselves to realize our potential.  Jim put these principles into action at an early age as he learned how to overcome his own Learning Disability. He has also documented his journey and the life lessons he learned in his book, “Do Something – I Can…I Will… I Won’t Quit!” 

Today there’s a virtual army of Jim’s believers in the world who carry Jim’s memorable messages into successful, meaningful lives. His customized school assembly programs are designed and orchestrated to reach out to all school groups and ages and clearly address timely and specific issues about real world life and living.  Schools love Jim’s willingness and ability to incorporate their school theme and messages within his program.

Early Life and Disability

In first grade, Jim Jones was diagnosed with dyslexia. Jim’s struggles were so great that he immediately found himself placed in a special education program. It would take Jim five years working with his tutors and speech therapists before he would make it into a regular classroom.

This adversity fundamentally shaped Jim’s view of the world, and provided him with many early life lessons about the good of accepting help from others, overcoming adversity, and learning to appreciate difference. These would later become the cornerstones of his career as a school assembly speaker.

Jim entered his senior year of high school reading at a second grade level (86 words per minute). Jim’s mother read his lesson to him so he could keep up with his studies and to this day he recounts the help of Irene Schuster, a teacher whom personally worked with Jim over the course of his senior year, to double his reading rate. Although, he still only read at the pace of 150 words per minute, Jim was accepted into Bowling Green State University on the strength of his G.P.A.

Success in College and Beyond

Being accepted into college was a dream come true for Jim, and, despite his disability, he refused to fail. As Jim entered college, he engineered a highly disciplined lifestyle that required long blocks of study time to keep up on the reading his classmates could accomplish in less than an hour.

Jim’s accomplishments while at BGSU:

Pledge Class President Kappa Sigma Fraternity

Phi Eta Sigma Freshman Honorary Treasurer

Beta Gamma Sigma National Honorary Inductee

Dean’s Advisory Council Finance Department Representative

Board of Appeals, College of Business Student Representative

Entrepreneurship Unlimited — President

Club Volleyball — Player

Outstanding Finance Student Award

Wall Street Journal Award

Outstanding Graduating Senior — College of Business

Inspiring and Encouraging Lives

In the sixth grade, Jim decided to learn to spin a basketball to try to fit in at that awkward middle school age. For him, it was time he could be creative and let his imagination go as he would dream of someday performing his new tricks in front of audiences. At that time he had no idea that he would become so good that he would be asked to perform at NBA games, nor that his escape would eventually become his career. Jim used his talents to give back to the community that had spent so much time helping him.

It was not long before people would see him all over town spinning basketballs at boy scout meetings, nursing homes, handicapped group homes, churches, festivals and parades. As his skill grew his disability shrank compared to his confidence and feeling of accomplishment in helping others.

These parallel tracks in Jim’s life—academic excellence and the desire to inspire others in meaningful, entertaining ways—became the lifeblood of Jim’s career. 25 years and 8,000 assemblies later, Jim continues to give back by bringing his story to assemblies nationwide. He has also teamed up with his wife, Brenda, to bring these messages to life in his children’s picture book series “Bouncy and Friends”.