The missing piece that has unlocked the Southland Sharks
“What John thought Rylan could provide for us, he has done that, and he’s actually blown it out of the water because he is smart,”
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Southland Sharks coach Jonathan Yim was confident they were getting a quality player when they landed Rylan Jones’ signature in the lead-up to the 2026 NZNBL season.
But Yim admits they’ve ended up with even more than they had hoped for from the American point guard.
Jones continued his impressive start to his time with the Sharks on Thursday night, leading Southland to a 104-90 win over defending champions, the Wellington Saints.
That victory took the Sharks to seven straight wins as they sit top of the table.
Jones, who is in his first professional contract, has had his fingerprints all over the Sharks’ success to date this season.
As impressive as Southland was on its way to the 2025 Grand Final, the Sharks were probably missing an out-and-out point guard, and Jones has added that piece to the puzzle in 2026.
Coach Yim said John Lowe, who has helped put the Sharks roster together over the past two seasons, probably deserved more credit than he has got in his role.
Lowe, who works for Melbourne United, has been Yim’s right-hand man when it has come to recruitment.
Lowe found eventual MVP Josiah Allicak last year for the Sharks, and also found Rylan Jones this year, which is proving to be another masterstroke.
“What John thought Rylan could provide for us, he has done that, and he’s actually blown it out of the water because he is smart,” Yim told The Roar Podcast about Jones.
“He is always under control. There’s three things that I really want in a point guard - Can you get us organised? Can you break pressure? And can you pressure the ball?
“He does all those three things to a very, very high level. He is calm - there are moments where I’m losing my mind, and he’s got us all under control on the court, which is great.
“He is clutch. He’s made timely steals. He’s made timely buckets.”
On top of that, despite being one of the shorter players in the league, the 26-year-old has shown a knack for finding plenty of rebounds.
Jones has pulled in 6.6 rebounds per game this season to go with his 18 points per game and 6.3 assists.
Yim puts Jones’ rebounding ability down to game smarts.
“What I appreciate about his rebounding is certain players just have the ability to read the ball in the air and be able to see, is it long? is it short? Is it coming off left, right?
“He just has that knack for that.”
Jones comes from a basketball family, with his father a basketball coach, and Yim said you can tell Jones has been around basketball for his entire life.
Prior to joining the Southland Sharks in New Zealand, Jones had a six-season college career in the United States, starting with the Utah Utes and finishing with the Samford Bulldogs.
The Southland Sharks get a well-earned gap between games following three tough games in seven days.
The next assignment will be against the Otago Nuggets in Dunedin on Sunday, May 30.
If the Southland Sharks weren’t formidable enough on their run of seven straight wins, Southland is likely to add two Tall Blacks in Max Darling and Tobias Cameron to the mix for that game and the rest of the season.
Darling has missed the first half of the season with a calf injury but is nearing a return, while Cameron has been playing in England and is now ready to join the Sharks.