It’s happened to all of us. Your cell phone rings, it doesn’t recognize the number; and it is coming from 2,000 miles away. Easy decision, right? Let it go to voicemail. While the scenario is common, we can assure you this particular outcome is not.
One snowy night in February a call such as this reached the phone of Dr. Grant Jones, 1988 Denison graduate. He made the simple choice —voicemail. “Probably a telemarketer,” he thought. It wasn’t until the next day that he noticed there was a from a California area code. The first words of the message were, “Hi Grant, this is Dick Enberg.”
“I still thought it was some telemarketing scheme,” chuckled Jones. “Then I realized that he had mentioned my name and was actually asking me questions. That’s when it hit me.”
What hit him was the realization that legendary sportscaster Dick Enberg was calling to congratulate him on his selection for induction to the Capital One Academic All-America Hall of Fame. A longtime supporter of the Academic All-America program and the organization who administers the program, the College Sports Information Directors of America, Enberg has been lending his venerable voice to the congratulatory call for years.
Nearly a month after hearing from Enberg, Jones is still scratching his head.
“Quite honestly, I am still trying to figure out how I was selected,” joked Jones. “I think my parents must have co-chaired the selection committee.”
All jokes aside, look no further than Jones’ impressive resume as a decorated student-athlete at Denison, to the eminent, orthopaedic surgeon he has become, to see that the Academic All-America Hall of Fame is exactly where he belongs.
Jones will enter the Hall of Fame on June 15 in a ceremony at the Marriott World Center in Orlando, Fla. He is one of five members of the 17th Academic All-America Hall of Fame class. He is joined in this year’s class by Naismith College Player of the Year and two-time NBA Champion, Shane Battier (Duke); 1996 Heisman Trophy winner Danny Wuerffel (Florida); 1998 gold medal-winning hockey player, Angela Ruggiero (Harvard) and former congressman and current U.S. Homeland Security Advisory Council member, Lee Hamilton (DePauw).
Denison University is one of the leaders in Division III Academic All-America selections, with 72 total honorees. Jones was a first-team Academic All-American in 1987 as a defensive back on the Denison football team. He earned the singular distinction of being named the Academic All-America of the Year that season. Now he will once again represent Denison as the college’s first Academic All-America Hall of Fame member.
Jones joins only 132 previous inductees, included among them: John Wooden, Pat Tillman, Rebecca Lobo, Steve Young, Bill Bradley, Julie Foudy and Joe Theismann.
“I am very humbled by the accomplishments of my fellow class of inductees and the past inductees,” Jones said. “I am proud to represent Denison University as its first Academic All-America Hall of Fame member and I am very confident that Denison will have future members thanks to its strong academic and athletic programs.”
Jones was a four-year member of the football team at Denison, playing under longtime head coach, Keith Piper. Class Valedictorian in 1988, Jones went on to medical school at Ohio State where he graduated with honors in 1992. While at Denison, Jones was a two-time all-conference player at defensive back. In 1987, he served as the team captain and was the team’s most valuable player. In addition to his Academic All-America of the Year award, he also was the recipient of the Time Magazine College Achievement Award, presented to the top 20 college students in the nation based on overall achievement (academics, social service and athletics) and was an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship recipient.
In September, he was inducted into Denison’s Varsity D Association Hall of Fame.
Jones is currently a surgeon at The Ohio State University College of Medicine where he also serves as the team physician for a number of varsity sports at Ohio State, United States Lacrosse and the Columbus Clippers, the Triple A affiliate of the Cleveland Indians. He served as President of the Columbus Orthopaedic Society from 2009-2013 and was recently elected to the American Orthopaedic Association. He was selected twice by Columbus Monthly as one of the top-10 orthopaedic surgeons in central Ohio.
Philanthropic ventures also have been a big part of Jones’ life. Since 2005, he has volunteered with the Childhood League/Merry-Go-Round fundraiser for Columbus Children’s Hospital Center for Developmentally Delayed Children. He takes part in the Night of Hope fundraiser for Columbus Child Advocacy Center for Abused Children and has served as a medical volunteer for Pelotonia, a Columbus area bicycle race to end cancer. Jones has been a Special Olympics volunteer for the past 17 years and has worked with Life Time Sports, a sports camp for underprivileged children, since 2008. He also spent five weeks in South America giving medical lectures and visiting hospitals and clinics as part of the American Orthopaedic Society of Sports Medicine’s Traveling Fellowship Program.
Jones and his wife, Jamie, live in Columbus, Ohio with their two children, Hudson and Evelyn.
The Capital One Academic All-America® Hall of Fame, as selected by CoSIDA, was established to honor former college student-athletes who have excelled in their professions and made substantial contributions to their community. To be eligible for the Hall of Fame, a candidate must have been an Academic All-America team member who graduated at least 10 years prior to nomination.