Merlakia Jones

Merlakia Jones (born June 21, 1973) is a former American college and professional basketball player who was a guard in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) for eight seasons during the 1990s and 2000s. Jones played college basketball for the University of Florida, and then played professionally for the Cleveland Rockers and Detroit Shock of the WNBA.

Merlakia Jones
Personal information
Born (1973-06-21) June 21, 1973
Montgomery, Alabama
NationalityAmerican
Listed height5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Listed weight147 lb (67 kg)
Career information
High schoolGeorge Washington Carver
(Montgomery, Alabama)
CollegeFlorida (1991–1995)
WNBA draft1997: 2nd round, 13th overall pick
Selected by the Cleveland Rockers
Playing career1997–2004
PositionGuard
Number25
Career history
1997–2003Cleveland Rockers
2004Detroit Shock
Career highlights and awards
Career WNBA statistics
Field goal %.420
Free throw %.753
Points2,353
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Medals
Women's basketball
Representing the  United States
World University Games
Silver medal – second place 1995 Fukuoka, Japan Team competition

Early years

Jones was born to George and Jacqueline Jones in Montgomery, Alabama. She attended George Washington Carver in Montgomery, and was a standout high school basketball player for the G.W. Carver Wolverines.

College career

Jones accepted an athletic scholarship to attend the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, where she played for coach Carol Ross's Florida Gators women's basketball team from 1991 to 1995.

Florida statistics

Source[1]

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high
Year Team GP Points FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1991–92 Florida 28 420 54.1% 0.0% 77.1% 5.0 0.9 1.1 0.5 15.0
1992–93 Florida 29 438 47.2% 25.0% 66.2% 7.0 1.4 2.2 0.5 15.1
1993–94 Florida 28 520 51.4% 25.0% 68.0% 10.1 1.8 1.9 0.7 18.6
1994–95 Florida 33 623 43.6% 24.8% 69.2% 6.3 1.6 1.4 0.6 18.9
TOTALS Florida 118 2001 48.3% 24.8% 70.1% 7.0 1.4 1.6 0.1 17.0

USA Basketball

Jones represented the US at the 1995 World University Games held in Fukuoka, Japan, in August and September 1995. The team had a record of 5–1, securing the silver medal. The USA teams won early and reached a record of 5–0 when the USA beat Yugoslavia. In the semi-final game, the USA faced Russia. The team was behind much of the first half but managed to tie the game at the half. The USA broke the game open in the second half and won 101–74, with Frett contributing a double-double, 20 points and 13 rebounds. The gold medal match was against unbeaten Italy. The Italian team started strong, scoring 12 of the first 14 points of the contest. The USA took a small lead in the second half, but the team from Italy responded with a ten-point run, and won the game and the gold medal by a score of 73–65. Jones averaged 2.3 points per game.[2]

Professional career

The Cleveland Rockers selected Jones in the second round (thirteenth pick overall) of the 1997 WNBA draft. Her debut game was played on June 21, 1997, in a 56–76 loss to the Houston Comets where she recorded 8 points,2 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 block.[3] Jones would go on to play for the Rockers for seven seasons (1997 - 2003) and made the All-Star team in three of those seasons (1999, 2000 and 2001). For the 1999 season, Jones was a bright spot on the Rockers' dark season, as the team finished 7 - 25 (which at the time became the 2nd worst W/L record in WNBA history) with Jones averaging 10.8 points and 3.8 rebounds.[4]

Jones and the Rockers made the playoffs four times during Jones' tenure (1998, 2000, 2001 and 2003) but failed to reach the WNBA Finals all four times. Interestingly, she was also the only player to play for the Rockers throughout the team's existence. The Rockers franchise folded in 2003 due to lack of new ownership and Jones played for them every season from their inaugural season to their final season. In January 2004, the WNBA hosted a Dispersal Draft where every player that had a remaining contract with the Rockers would be drafted to a different team. Jones was not eligible to be drafted since she was an unrestricted free agent at the time, and she would sign with the Detroit Shock on February 17, 2004.[5]

With the Shock, Jones played in 33 games and averaged 5.5 points and 2.1 rebounds. The team reached the playoffs with a 17–17 record, but were eliminated in the first round by the New York Liberty (2-1). This season with the Shock ended up being Jones last days in the NBA and Game 3 of that first round series against the Liberty was the final game of her career. That game was played on September 28, 2004, and although Jones produced a strong 13 points, 7 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 steal, the Shock lost the game 64 - 66.[6]

Jones finished her WNBA career with 251 games played (141 starts) and averaged 9.4 points, 3.7 rebounds and 1.4 assists. She was named by SB Nation as the best #13 pick in WNBA history, and currently still has the most career points scored of any player drafted at that pick (2,353 career points).[7]

See also

References

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