Tom Jones Papers, 1960-1962 | University of Illinois Archives

From June 20 - July 20, 1962, seventeen wheelchair athletes, including Tom Jones and his wife, Louise, and eight able-bodied coaches, equipment men, and reporters, including Roger Ebert, embarked on a month-long tour of the Republic of South Africa and the Federation of Rhodesia and Nsayaland. Prior to the trip, June 11-13, 1962, an orientation for the athletes took place in Champaign-Urbana with the help of Professor Timothy Nugent, U of I Rehabiliation Center Director, and John Powell, instructor in Physical Education and former instructor at Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa. The group set off for New York on June 14, 1962 to compete in a Wheelchair Basketball Tournament. They arrived in Johanesburg on June 20, 1962. Throughout their tour, the group made stops in Pretoria, Welkom, Bloemfontein, Cape Town, Stellenbosch, Paarl, Port Elizabeth, Grahamstown, King William's Town, East London, Durban, and Petermaritzburg. They arrived in the Federation of Rhodesia and Nsayaland on July 11, 1962, and they visited Bulawayo, Gwelo, Fort Victoria, Salisbury, Lusaka, Kariba, and Victoria Falls. In each place they visited, the group put on exhibitions of various wheelchair sports, including basketball, football, archery, track and field events, swimming, square dancing, cheerleading, and chair skills.

Tom Jones played wheelchair basketball for both UIUC (1959 BA Communications, 1971 MA Television) and the Champaign-Urbana Black Knights. He was a world record holder in wheelchair track competitions for U of I. Jones went on to work as a sports writer, producer, and director for WCIA televison and was a sports broadcaster for Big Ten football and basketball.