PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD/WYZZ) β Have a night Jaelyn Nunley.
The senior guard hit six three-pointers and scored 20 points to lead class 1A top-ranked Deer Creek-Mackinaw to a 53-23 win over visiting Lexington in Heart of Illinois Conference girls basketball on Monday. Nunley became the Dee-Mack career leader in three-pointers in the win, she now has 120 for her career.
Last week, Nunley passed Addi Swadinsky, class of 2023, as Dee-Mackβs single-season record holder for three-pointers when she hit her 58th of the year. Dalia DeJesus added 17 points for Dee-Mack (24-2), which grabbed the lead on an 18-5 run in the second quarter.
Other girls basketball winners Monday night included Manual, Normal West, Eureka, Heyworth and Elmwood. Bloomington and Lexington won boys basketball games.
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KANSAS CITY, MO. β Missouri Southern Softballβs Emily Davis has been named the MIAA Pitcher of the Week following a dominant start to her collegiate career.
In a five-game stretch at the Lone Star Classic in Mansfield, Texas that saw the No. 24 Lions go a perfect 5-0 overall, Davis made four appearances and two starts. She tallied a total of 17.1 innings of work, racking up 19 strikeouts while allowing just 2 earned runs for a 0.81 ERA across her four appearances.
After picking up the win in the Lionsβ season opener over Colorado School of Mines, the freshman was one hit away from recording a perfect game against Southern Nazarene, where she picked up her second career win.
Davis and the Lions will look to keep the winning ways rolling when they return to action on Friday, February 6 at the Bentonville Tourney.
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WASHINGTON (DC News Now) β In their Morgan State college dorm in the mid-1990βs, Daronte Jones and Melvin Coleman stayed busy.
βWe did a lot of battles in Madden,β Coleman told DC News Now. βIβd be in the bed asleep it would be a Saturday and [Daronte] would walk and grab the controller and put the controller by my bed and soon Iβd wake up and heβd jump back in like I donβt see him and be like, βoh so what you calling me out?β
In January, three decades after his Madden battles as a college football player with his roommate, and many professional and college football coaching stops, Jones has been hired as the Washington Commanders new defensive coordinator.
Daronte Jones, right, and Melvin Coleman, left, during their college days at Morgan State. (Melvin Coleman)
For Jones β itβs a homecoming. He hails from Prince Georgeβs County, where he attended Bishop McNamara high school in Forestville, Maryland.
Itβs not just his college friends and teammates who remember the Madden matchups. His good friend and teammate from Bishop McNamara Mike Jones also took part in the legendary video games matchups β though he didnβt know at the time he was facing a defensive mastermind.
βHeβs definitely the reason why I stopped playing Madden,β Mike said. βCause heβs reading all your plays and this was the time when he was early in his coaching careerβ¦ Iβm like dude Iβm playing for leisure.β
During his college career, Daronte suffered a neck injury that kept him off the field. Coleman said Daronte would spend more time in the play calling booth during games and was earning a bigger grasp of the game. He said it showed in Madden too.
βThat kind of helped us being coaches and our playing careers were done,β Coleman said. βWe learned how to think on the run, think quick, make adjustments quick.β
You could call Daronteβs coaching career the Daronte Jones World Tour.
It started in 2001 as a graduate assistant at Division II Lenoir-Rhyne. Coleman said Daronte conducted an interview with the school before they went on their spring break trip senior year. The following years took Jones to Nicholls State (then Division I-AA) as safeties coach, defensive coordinator jobs at high schools in Louisiana and his first return to the DMV where he served as Bowie Stateβs assistant head coach and defensive coordinator from 2005 to 2009.
Jones bounced around more after that. He was cornerbacks coach at UCLA in 2010, defensive backs coach for the Montreal Alouettes in the Canadian Football League in 2011, Hawaiiβs secondary coach in 2012-14 and Wisconsinβs defensive backs coach in 2015.
Then, Jones made the jump to the NFL β first as the Miami Dolphins assistant defensive backs coach, then the Cincinnati Bengals cornerbacks coach, then the Minnesota Vikings defensive backs coach. After a brief stint as LSUβs defensive coordinator in 2021 where he coached star cornerback Derek Stingley Jr., Jones returned to the Vikings, where he stayed until this offseason.
βFor most people who think that this is a person whoβs coming out of nowhere, thatβs not true,β Mike Jones said. βThis guy has been grinding close to over 20 years. Heβs been grinding and getting information from the best minds in football.β
For Mike and Coleman, watching Daronte flourish in the football world has been meaningful, but theyβve also seen his growth as a coach.
Daronte Jones and Melvin Coleman. (Melvin Coleman)
βSecondary wise, pass defense wise, everywhere heβs gone theyβve gotten better,β Coleman, who is now the safeties coach at Morgan State said. βSomebody is doing well, somebody is probably making the pro bowl. Somebody is probably making all-conference. So the proof is in the work.β
Since 2023, Daronte had worked directly under Brian Flores in Minnesota. Coleman said that Daronteβs coaching influences and style comes from several different legendary coaching trees.
βWith him being around [Vic] Fangio, Marvin Lewis, [Mike] Zimmer, Vance Joseph and now Flores,β Coleman said. βHeβs got a lot work from them. He got a lot of tape to take from them.β
In recent seasons, with Daronte serving as the teamβs defensive backs coach and pass game coordinator, the Vikingsβ defense has played aggressively, focusing on trying to force turnovers and blitzing at some of the highest rates in the NFL.
Daronteβs high school teammate Mike Jones, who is now a counselor at Bishop McNamara says the way he played was pretty similar to how his defenses play.
βHe was always in the right spotβ¦ When we look at those old films when we get together, he pops on film,β Mike said. βHeβs always going all out.β
Mike said Daronte earned the nickname βCrowβ because βhe made crow sounds in the backfield.β
βHe would make these crow sounds like heβs lurking in the secondary,β Mike said. βHe would take on the biggest person on the team in practice even though he was gonna get knocked downβ¦ Heβs not scared.β
According to his friends, Daronteβs days at McNamara mean a lot to him. Several years ago, Daronte donated to the Bishop McNamara football program. His contributions provide student athletes with scholarship assistance. Daronteβs name is now etched on a plaque in the McNamara locker room, noted him as a 1996 graduate and that yearβs male athlete of the year. Daronte played football, wrestling and track & field at McNamara.
βHeβs been able to come back and give back to the community itself in terms of the program and the school,β Bishop McNamara football head coach Greg Calhoun said. βBut heβs also been able to take advantage of the opportunities to give back.β
Calhoun told DC News Now that he referenced Daronte as inspiration and motivation for his players and as an example to potential recruits.
βI actually just had a set of recruits come through and we just showed his locker again as we always do,β Calhoun said. βA lot of great coaches out here in the world but for him to be selected for that job and that opportunity in this community, is huge.β
Daronte Jonesβ locker plaque in Bishop McNamara high schoolβs locker room. (Alex Flum)
Bishop McNamara plays in one of, if not the best high school football conferences in the country, the WCAC. The Mustangs last won a WCAC championship in 1990. Since, the conference has been dominated by blue blood programs DeMatha, Gonzaga, St. Johnβs and Good Counsel.
But in 2025, months before Daronte being hired by the Commanders, a few seasons into his tenure in Forestville, Calhoun helped his team take a massive step forward. The Mustangs beat their rival Gonzaga, 21-0 on October 11. Gonzaga was the eventual WCAC runners-up.
The following week, McNamara fell just short to eventual undefeated WCAC champion DeMatha, 12-7. They were one of two teams to come within five points or less of the Stags all season long. It was also DeMathaβs second lowest scoring output of the season.
βWeβre not always the first names mentioned in that league,β Mike said. βNow we have something that we can definitely hang our hat on in conversationsβ¦ Now we have the defensive coordinator of our local team.β
Calhoun believes that an esteemed alum calling plays down the road, could further fuel his players.
βJust knowing that you have somebody of that magnitude at that level kind of puts that pressure on you obviously as the current student in that process, just letting you know you have some big shoes to fill,β Calhoun told DC News Now. βYou have some expectations, you have some standards and thatβs something that we work to build here in this process and our guys take pride and value in that.β
And while Daronte rises in the football coaching ranks, heβs still a boy from Prince Georgeβs County, Maryland.
βI know growing up, everybody was like DC, DC, DC, but now itβs like PG County,β Coleman said. βWeβve got players, weβve got ballers, weβve got good thinkers and I think itβs just youβre proud to represent where youβre from.β
As for what Commanders fans should expects going forward, Coleman said Daronte is βa guy thatβs going to be on a mission to be great. To not lose.β
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CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (WCIA) β Illinois has now defeated top-five opponents in back-to-back weekends, the latest win coming in Lincoln, Nebraska, over the No. 5 Nebraska Cornhuskers.
WCIA 3βs Courtney Layne Brewer shares the highlights from the 78-69 win with Sports Director Glenn Kinley reporting from Pinnacle Bank Arena, plus extended analysis of another high-scoring game by Keaton Wagler and some of the best plays of the game.
Up next, No. 9 Illinois hosts Northwestern on Wednesday, February 4 at 8 p.m.
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SPARTANBURG, S.C. (WJHL) β The ETSU Buccaneers gave credit to the big men on the court Sunday night in their 86β72 road win over theΒ Wofford Terriers. The victory pushed ETSU back into sole possession of first place in the Southern Conference.
Bucs Forward Cam Morris III led the team with 22 points, seven rebounds and a career-best five steals, while 6-foot-8 sophomore Jordan McCullum added 17 points. Blake Barkley finished with 11 points and six boards as ETSU improved to 16β7 overall and 8β2 in league play.
After a back-and-forth first half, ETSU took control for good early in the second, using efficient offense and steady defense to create separation. The Bucs closed the game at the free-throw line, converting 21 of 22 attempts in the final eight minutes.
Jaylen Smith scored 10 points for his third straight double-figure performance, and Allen Strothers contributed five assists. ETSU shot 48% from the field, won the rebounding battle 35β24 and capitalized on Wofford turnovers.
ETSU returns home Wednesday to face Furman at Freedom Hall.
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SEATTLE, Wash. (WCIA) β Illinois womenβs basketball took on its seventh ranked opponent of the year in the Washington Huskies and kicked off the west coast swing with a win.
The Illini played No. 25 Washington on the road in Seattle, leading by as many as 14 points and coming out with a 75-66 victory.
Cearah Parchment and Berry Wallace once again top the box score, with 23 and 22 points, respectively. Parchment also picked up her seventh double-double of the year with ten rebounds.
Illinois stays out west to face Oregon on Wednesday at 8 p.m.
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ATHENS, Texas (KETK) β The defending national champion Trinity Valley Community College Cardinals were back on Saturday afternoon, looking to get revenge against the Lamar State College Seahawks.
ATHENS, Texas (KETK) β The Trinity Valley Lady Cardinals have been rolling so far this season, and were looking to remain undefeated in Region 14 play as they hosted the rival Angelina College Lady Roadrunners.
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