Teammates say center Daniel Jones, a walk-on, is the consummate team player.

Roberto Nelson can be as calculated off the court as he is on it.

Take the sequence of events that preceded Tuesday’s players’ press conference, for instance.

Senior walk-on Daniel Jones was set to make the first and likely last media appearance of his Oregon State basketball career.

“Scoot in a little bit,” Nelson told Jones seconds after sitting down to Jones’ right.

Jones moved toward the center of the podium.

Nelson then nudged a microphone closer to Jones. Angus Brandt, seated to Jones’ left, did the same with a different microphone.

“You get two mics,” Nelson announced to Jones.

Brandt chuckled, as did Devon Collier.

Clearly Nelson, Brandt and Collier — three seniors who have fielded hundreds of questions over the course of their careers — wanted the spotlight shone on Jones, who’s logged just 41 minutes in four seasons as a Beaver.

Picking up on the cue, reporters proceeded to familiarize themselves with the least-known member of OSU’s four-man senior class, who will be honored prior to the Beavers’ regular-season finale Saturday.

So what was revealed?

Here are five things OSU fans probably didn’t know about the man known as “Jonesey” inside OSU’s locker room.

1. Daniel Jones is “the perfect walk-on”

That praise comes from his coach, Craig Robinson.

“You can’t do what we’ve done for the last four years without guys like Daniel Jones,” Robinson said.

The 6-foot-11 Jones, who chose OSU because it was a “prime fit” academically and athletically, typically spends practices impersonating the upcoming opponent’s starting center.

Robinson credited Jones for “showing other walk-ons how to be walk-ons.”

He added that Jones, who has appeared in just two games this season, “never complains” about his role.

2. He has diabetes

Jones was back home in Hamilton City, Calif., for spring break in 2012 when he started experiencing persistent flu-like symptoms. When he returned to Corvallis, he underwent blood tests.

It turned out he had diabetes.

Ever since, he’s had to watch his diet, use an artificial insulin pump and submit to regular blood tests. When his blood sugar level isn’t where it needs to be, he can’t practice.

He’s taken the whole thing in stride.

“Mainly, it’s been a huge learning experience,” Jones said. “But it’ll be alright in the long-run.”

Robinson was more blunt about the challenges Jones has faced.

“Watching him fight through that has been courageous — absolutely courageous” Robinson said. “He doesn’t want to miss a day of practice. Some days he can’t practice, other days he’s the toughest impersonator of (Arizona center) Kaleb Tarczewski we have.”

Several Beavers have taken on motherly-like roles, reminding Jones to watch himself when he’s eating something he maybe shouldn’t.

“We do it because we love him,” Brandt said.

3. He once served as the Beavers’ sixth man for a game

Perhaps Beaver Nation has erased OSU’s 2011 game at Arizona State from its memory — for good reason.

But Jones likely never will.

After more than half the team received coinciding one-game suspensions for violating team rules, OSU entered the March 5, 2011, game against the Sun Devils with six available players — one being Jones, a freshman at the time.

Jones went on to play a career-high six minutes in the contest, which OSU lost, 80-66. It remains the only time Jones has appeared in a collegiate game with the outcome hanging in the balance.

“I remember being heartbroken that I had to throw him to the wolves like that,” Robinson said. “But he got in there, and for three-fourths of the game, we were right there.”

“(Jones) got the opportunity,” Brandt added, “and he seized it with both hands.”

4. He may be the best dancer on the team

Jones represented the team in last April’s “Beavers Got Talent” show, performing a country western swing dance.

And when OSU traveled to Europe two summers ago, Jones tried his hand (and feet) at the “flamingo” dance on stage with professional dancers.

“He has a good spirit about him,” Robinson said. “He doesn’t take himself too seriously.”

And he probably wouldn’t be a bad date to, say, The Peacock’s “Western Wednesday.”

“He’s a 7-footer with some moves,” Nelson said.

Jones’ favorite dance, Collier claims, is “the jerk.”

5. He’s always willing to offer a helping hand

Brandt said Jones “will go out of his way to help anyone on the team, any time of day, no matter what he’s doing.” Robinson said he relies on Jones, the self-described “team mechanic,” to fix anything that is broken. And when it recently snowed in Corvallis, Jones navigated the roads in his pick-up truck, looking to help strangers in stuck cars, according to Nelson.

“That’s the kind of person he is,” Nelson said.

Robinson believes Jones, who’s majoring in Agricultural Business Management and aspires to one day run his family’s farm, will be “extremely successful” in life.

“We’re going to miss him,” Robinson said.

Grady Garrett, sports reporter

On Twitter @gradygarrett

sports@dailybarometer.com