Solid as Stone: Despite serious obstacles, Tigers sharpshooter is emerging force

Jayden Stone arrived at Mizzou a journeyman of the modern college basketball landscape. He became an instant-impact player for the Tigers.

In just six games, he was averaging 13 points and shooting nearly 42% from 3-point range. When the news broke Nov. 25 that he would miss four to six weeks after injuring his hand in practice, it was a blow to the team.

Given what Stone has been through, it was, to him, merely a bump in a winding road that has included worse.

After four seasons split between Grand Canyon University and Detroit Mercy, Stone was set to get his first opportunity to play high-major basketball at West Virginia in October 2024. Before the season tipped off, that opportunity was derailed.

Stone suffered a devastating injury to his head and neck, resulting in the loss of movement in his left side. The recovery process was long, and Stone never suited up for the Mountaineers.

His confidence shot, feelings of self-doubt crept in.

“I think I was just really defeated, because I wanted a chance to prove that I could play on a level like this, you know, at the Big 12, and have a chance to be a good player,” Stone said. “Because, obviously, at Detroit, we weren’t winning, so I wanted to match the skills with success on the court. ... It felt like if I went to a really good school, I could have the opportunity to do that and prove to myself.

“So when I went down ... it was really difficult at the time.”

After a long recovery and one final transfer, the high-major version of Jayden Stone has finally arrived.

A scary injury — and long recovery

In recovering from a major injury to his brain that caused temporary paralysis, Stone had to rely on medical professionals and the people around him to keep him on track, both mentally and physically. One such figure was longtime West Virginia men’s basketball athletic trainer Randy Meador, who recently retired after 41 years at West Virginia, 40 with men’s basketball.

In decades of working as a trainer for a college basketball team, Meador had seen his fair share of collisions and hard falls under the basket. Meador knew the injury was serious based on where Stone landed.

“Well, it was interesting because I was able to see it, and he was not that high,” Meador said. “But as soon as he landed, you could tell that he was significantly hurt. So of course I rushed out there, you know, and started to assist him as best I could.”

Meador, working alongside orthopedic physicians at West Virginia, began laying out a long-term plan for Stone’s recovery. After a recovery process that began with a one-day stay in the ICU, Stone began months of physical therapy that involved a medical team.

“They (the Mountaineers’ staff) were brilliant,” Stone said. “... Randy Meador was brilliant. I mean every day was checking in, every day was doing something to gain the same level of coordination in my left side of my body as opposed to my right.”

In a recovery process as long as the one Stone went through, there is no playbook. Much of it comes down to progression.

“You know, like a lot of injuries, say ACL rehab or something like that, you have a protocol that says so many months in front of you,” Meador said. “And something like the brain, you really don’t have a timeframe like that.”

Despite the uncertainty, Meador kept Stone level-headed when he questioned whether or not he would ever set foot on a basketball court again. Recovering from paralysis is challenging for anyone. For Stone, it meant recovering, then returning to the physical shape necessary to compete. Baby steps and daily goals reassured Stone of his mission.

“You know, when you’re focused on (small steps), he would buy into that,” Meador said. “... You know, we may not be ready tomorrow, we may not be ready for the next game, but you’re better each week, and that’s just what we need. Cause the brain’s either gonna get better or worse, so let’s just keep building off that.”

Muscular injuries will lead to muscle loss, but this injury had an added component. His brain injury affected his sleep and caused painful headaches.

“Whether it was cognitive training, like motor proprio skills — you know, motor sensory stuff — all this stuff to regain back the strength in my body,” Stone said. “And then also sensitivity, you know. I was having headaches, working through those, and making more of a physical push to get back to where I was at.”

The challenge was made more difficult by the fact Stone was 10,000 miles away from his family. The Perth, Australia native has been living on his own in the United States for a decade now, but both of his parents provided guidance in their own ways

“He’s more of a, like, coach, but he’s loving,” Stone said of his father. “He taught me everything I know about basketball. So he allows my mom the space to encourage me mentally and spiritually and emotionally.”

Just as the medical team at West Virginia kept him focused physically, his family kept him leveled mentally and spiritually.

“And it was really my grandma and my mom that was breathing life into me,” Stone said. “Always telling me to keep quoting scripture, realizing you can if you have the faith for it, you know, to believe. ... Just give God the glory, even if it doesn’t happen the way you think it will.”

The journey through college basketball has been anything but straightforward for Stone.

A journey through college basketball

Mizzou is his fourth school since enrolling at Grand Canyon in fall 2020. In an era of NIL and the transfer portal, such movement is not uncommon.

At each turn he has faced an obstacle. At Grand Canyon, he struggled to see the floor, averaging only eight minutes and three points in his second and final season. Following the end of that season, he was told that he was no longer a part of the team’s plans, and was even asked by a member of the coaching staff if he would be willing to stay on as a manager.

“If that doesn’t kill your confidence, I don’t know what does,” Stone said. “You’ve got to think from my perspective. I never, ever thought, like, ‘Oh yeah, college basketball, that’s all me.’“

Despite the blow to his self-esteem, Stone believes it was part of his evolution as a player. He was new to the college game, and was still learning what it meant to contribute.

“Now, some things, granted, were on my responsibility,” Stone said. “Like the demeanor, how I fought through difficult times, how I cheered for my teammates. I was so new to that, and I struggled with it. …

“So I don’t want to say it’s the coach’s fault, whoever’s there, I don’t blame them at all. It’s not their fault. But, that’s just what happened.”

Stone transferred to Detroit Mercy in April 2022. After two seasons, coach Mike Davis was fired. In Stone’s second season at Detroit Mercy, he elevated his play, starting all but one game and averaging nearly 21 points per game. He followed that with his first shot at a high-major at West Virginia, but between the injury and the departure of coach Darian DeVries to Indiana, an opportunity for stability again came to a halt.

Facing the game after a major rehabilitation process, and potentially another leap into the transfer portal, Stone pondered if this was the end of his collegiate career.

“I thought, ‘Man, I might have to go home,’“ Stone said. “Honestly, I might have to go home and just settle with the fact of this might be it in terms of the U.S. pursuit of a career. Or, you know, in pursuit of anything.”

Just as he thought it had all come to an end, Mizzou came calling.

Fitting in with Mizzou

Associate head coach Kyle Smithpeters approached Stone with an opportunity to finally prove his ability, this time in the Southeastern Conference. He assured him there was a place for him, despite concerns Stone had about his own self-confidence.

“I was just kind of amazed that anyone would want to take me after the injury, and then after so many schools, transferring,” Stone said. “I just didn’t think it would be a wise decision on any team’s behalf to want to take me. And the thinking low of myself is something that I’m working on even to this day.”

Not only has Stone recovered fully, but he has been an instant impact player for the Tigers. Before suffering his hand injury, Stone was providing a major scoring boost from the bench. Coach Dennis Gates recognizes his leadership ability because of his lived experiences.

“He’s very cerebral,” Gates said. “For a guy that averaged 20 points per game, he’s playing the game in an unselfish way because the game was taken from him before. And being able to sit out, I think he plays with (the) amount of joy and unselfishness that you need to keep your units connected.”

Stone is now a veteran on the collegiate level. On a team with the mix of young and old, his experience becomes even more important.

“Jayden’s a great scorer, he’s also just great energy coming off the bench,” sophomore guard Annor Boateng said. “He’s a vet on the team, so his experience is well-needed. …

“We’re all waiting on him to get back so we can be a whole team again.”

It seems that the moment has finally arrived for Stone. The instability of coaching changes and transfers have passed and the chance to play has finally arrived. One thing will remain constant for Stone: The past doesn’t shape the future, but it can change how you approach it.

“I’m not the same guy, like, ‘Oh, I was the one that was getting offered to be a manager,’“ Stone said. “But I’m never too far removed of being humbled by my experiences, for real.”

Mizzou takes on Illinois at 7 p.m. Monday at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis.

Copyright 2025 Columbia Missourian

This story was originally published December 21, 2025 at 5:30 AM with the headline "Solid as Stone: Despite serious obstacles, Tigers sharpshooter is emerging force."