DETROIT — Curtis Jones is a name that only those born in Detroit in the early 1970s or prior would know. In fact, most people who lived in Detroit through the 1960s can recall that name and a few stories to go along with it. Yet, to those of the the current generation, Curtis Jones is a name that does not ring a bell. In the 1960s, Jones was a standout basketball player at Detroit Northwestern High School. Some even consider Jones to be the greatest basketball player that Detroit has ever seen. So why has no one from America’s most recent generations never heard of the guy? Well, Jones fell through the cracks. He never played at a big college program nor the pros. In fact, he never even had a job.
Graduating from Northwestern in the late ’60s, Jones got his diploma despite not being able to read or write his own name. Instead, Jones’ basketball skills got him a free pass. Jones’ illiteracy made college plans an absolute failure and, ultimately, put him on the fast track to drugs and stints in mental institutions until he died at the age of 50 in 1999.
Now, documentary filmmaker Buddy Moorehouse is looking to share Jones’ cautionary tale of illiteracy and the negative affects it has on an individual. Having interviewed the likes of former NBA stars Spencer Haywood, Jalen Rose and Dave Bing – all of which shared stories of Jones’ greatness on the hardwood – Moorehouse is creating a documentary called “Fouled Out: The Story of Curtis Jones” and is hoping to share it with students across the state. MORE