Casey Jones still plans to join his former Eastern Washington coach David Riley in Pullman - after serving a two-year mission

For as much as there was a reunion on the Arena court on Thursday night, there was almost as much of one off it.

While four former Eastern Washington players suited up for Washington State in the Cougars’ 96-81 victory, a few more former Eagles were also on hand.

Ellis Magnuson, Eastern’s starting point guard last season, watched from the stands. Rylan Bergersen, who played for David Riley in his first year as Eastern’s head coach in 2021-22, sat on the WSU bench as the Cougars’ director of player personnel.

And then, seated eight rows up, was the bespectacled Casey Jones, the high-energy forward who got under the skin of so many opponents during the past three years with the Eagles, watching so many of his former teammates play basketball while he hovers between his junior and senior seasons.

“Casey opened up a lot of things for a lot of people,” WSU senior forward Cedric Coward said of his former teammate. “He puts so much pressure on defenses that (when we played at EWU) it gave me a lot of my wide-open shots.”

Jones has plans to join Riley in Pullman eventually, but a confluence of events has pushed that reunion two seasons into the future.

It started with a shoulder injury the 6-foot-6 Jones suffered in the last college basketball game he played: Eastern’s first-round Big Sky Tournament loss to Sacramento State in March.

Jones didn’t know the extent of it for a month.

Right around the same time, Jones was approached by a leader in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints about whether he might serve a two-year mission.

“He asked me if I had served, and I said no,” Jones said. “I found out later that night I tore my labrum and couldn’t play the next year anyway. I wouldn’t want to end my senior year with two weeks of practice (after a recovery), so it all just ended up working out.”

Jones is set to leave for his mission next week, a commitment that will end in August 2026.

“It should be fun,” Jones said. “I’m excited and I can’t wait.”

His plan is to use his redshirt the following 2026-27 basketball season and then, finally, play out his senior year of eligibility in 2027-28.

Assuming that all goes to plan, Jones would be 26 years old when he plays his next college game.

“He’s a special player, and (I’m sorry) I won’t be able to play with him again,” Coward said, “but when he comes back and plays for this team, I’ll be watching.”

In three seasons with the Eagles, Jones played in 92 games (starting 57) and in those averaged 7.8 points and 4.2 rebounds. His best year was his junior year, when he averaged 26.6 minutes and 12.6 points.

Originally from Sammamish, Washington, Jones played his last year of high school at Wasatch Academy in Mount Pleasant, Utah.