Arrow-right Camera

Color Scheme

Subscribe now
Gonzaga Basketball

Nobody’s enjoying Gonzaga’s new WCC rivalry with Oregon State more than former Zag guard Elle Tinkle Jones

Two weeks ago, Elle Tinkle Jones took in Oregon State’s thrilling 97-89 overtime victory against Gonzaga from a padded seat just a few inches from the court at Gill Coliseum in Corvallis, Oregon.

On Tuesday night, Tinkle Jones was one row back of the visiting bench when her father’s Oregon State team traveled to McCarthey Athletic Center for a second meeting with Gonzaga, losing 98-60 to even the season series between the West Coast Conference foes and future Pac-12 rivals.

Tinkle Jones is still grappling with the reality that she’ll have to miss a third game between the schools if the West Coast Conference Tournament bracket manufactures a Gonzaga-OSU rubber match more than a month from now in Las Vegas.

Last June, the former Gonzaga women’s standout and daughter of 11th-year Oregon State coach Wayne Tinkle married Jeremy Jones, an ex-Zags forward who spent four seasons on Mark Few’s roster from 2015-19.

The two are expecting their first child, a girl, in April and the conference tournament in Vegas runs March 6-11 – dangerously close to the due date, Tinkle Jones determined after months of careful consideration.

“I think 35 weeks is probably cutting it a little too close,” said Tinkle Jones, who would have not only had a chance to follow her father’s OSU team, but also former coach Lisa Fortier and the GU women, along with Pepperdine’s women’s team, which employs older sister Joslyn as an assistant. “I have lots of great memories in Vegas, I’m not sure I want to go into labor there. And I know myself, I know I probably wouldn’t be able to remain calm at those games.

“So best that I sit it out, watch it from the TV, which will be really tough. But exciting we get to have plenty more of these battles for years to come.”

Tinkle Jones, who owns a diploma from Gonzaga and rarely misses a chance to watch Oregon State in person, has had lots of practice answering the question that’s been on everyone’s mind since the Beavers joined the WCC as an affiliate member.

“I’m sure people were wondering with the colors, but I give the same answer of, I was a Tinkle long before I was a Zag,” she said. “So I’ve got to stick with that.”

The topic came up in October at WCC Media Day, when Wayne Tinkle, a Ferris High graduate, was asked if his youngest daughter would face any internal battles when Gonzaga and Oregon State played Jan. 16 in Corvallis – the first meeting between the programs since 1991.

“Not at all, not at all. She isn’t now,” Wayne said. “These guys know. On the sidelines there, she’s worth at least eight points a game. It was 10 or 12 when (Joslyn) – when they were both together. But Elle is a Beaver through and through and it’s going to be nice to see her and Jeremy. They’ve already had some arguments over that soon to be rivalry, so it’s fun.”

Jones, who’s had professional basketball opportunities in Austria, Germany and Japan, is averaging 4.7 points in his first season with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, a G League affiliate of the Houston Rockets.

He’s still close with members of GU’s coaching staff, including former college teammate Zach Norvell Jr., and would prefer a Zags victory in the matchups with Oregon State. Not that he’d disclose such information in conversations with his wife.

“I think he knows better,” Tinkle Jones said. “Even if his heart is somewhere, he knows better than to voice it for me. And obviously being in the family now, I think more than anything he’s just excited that again, two schools can get to battle. … It’s really a win-win, whoever comes out on top at the end of the day. But he was excited for my dad a couple weeks ago. Again, he’s got two dogs in the fight really, so he’s good regardless.”

Jones got an early glimpse of his father-in-law’s new-look roster – featuring a handful of newcomers and transfers like guard Damarco Minor and forward Parsa Fallah – when he participated in pickup games and offseason runs at Oregon State last summer.

It was past midnight in Texas when the Zags and Beavers went to overtime on Jan. 16 in Corvallis, so the former GU forward didn’t catch the final stages of OSU’s upset win, but he likely had mixed feelings when he woke up to the final score.

“Just being able to see them all come together, he was pretty excited for them,” Tinkle Jones said. “But again, I much more will be a lot more biased in these situations than him.”

Tinkle Jones wore orange pants, a black long-sleeved shirt and black Oregon State ballcap when the teams played in Corvallis, and arrived in a white Beavers T-shirt during Tuesday’s rematch at the Kennel.

Tinkle Jones and both of her siblings, Tres, a former OSU men’s standout who plays professionally in Turkey, and Joslyn, a former Stanford women’s player who spent three years as an assistant, are notoriously animated while watching their father’s games – usually from seats just behind the Beavers’ bench.

Officials and opponents still get an earful from the Tinkle brigade, but it’s a smaller group these days, usually led by Elle and mother Lisa – the only immediate family members who can attend games on a regular basis.

“I always go into every game saying we’re going to be calm and it never seems to work out that way,” said Tinkle Jones, who’s been advised to take her energy down a notch with a baby coming in three months. “… Now I have people that are on my case. And when (Jeremy) will watch the games, I’ll have both – between my parents and Jeremy – people telling me, all right, you need to tone it down. But obviously our kid is going to experience this, so might as well get her prepped for it early.”

After graduating from Gonzaga, Tinkle Jones worked as an oncology nurse for four years before starting a graduate school program and spending the past four years in aesthetics nursing. A two-time All-WCC selection, she resides in Portland and was still active playing in local rec leagues before her pregnancy.

“And realized I can’t back it up with my play anymore,” she said.

With experience on both sides, Tinkle Jones finds it much easier to be on the court, where she could directly control the result of a game, than watching nervously from the bleachers.

“I always tell (Jeremy), ‘Gosh, I’m going to look forward to the day where he’s retired from basketball and my dad’s retired from coaching and I don’t have to have my life be wins or losses,’ ” Tinkle Jones said. “Then he’s like, ‘Well, our kids will probably play, so that’ll just continue.’ This is going to be my life, but it’s going to be so fun. I’ve seen all of the opportunities and experiences that basketball’s been able to afford us. So there’s not a lot to complain about.

“I’ll just probably gray like my dad early, which is to be expected.”