Merlakia Jones

Merlakia Jones (born June 21, 1974) 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
Nationality	American
Listed height	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Listed weight	147 lb (67 kg)
Career information
High school	George Washington Carver (Montgomery, Alabama)
College	Florida (1991–1995)
WNBA draft	1997 / Round: 2 / Pick: 13th overall
Selected by the Cleveland Rockers
Playing career	1997–2004
Position	Guard
Number	25
Career history
1997–2003	Cleveland Rockers
2004	Detroit Shock
Career highlights and awards
First Team All-WNBA (2001) 3× WNBA All-Star (1999–2001) 3× First-team All-SEC (1993–1995) 3× Honorable mention All-American (1993–1995)
Career WNBA statistics
Field goal %	.420
Free throw %	.753
Points	2,353
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Medals Women's basketball Representing the  United States World University Games 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, and she played for the Rockers from 1997 to 2003.[3] She played her WNBA final season Detroit Shock in 2004.

See also

• List of Florida Gators in the WNBA
• List of University of Florida alumni

References

1. "Florida Media Guide" (PDF). Retrieved 2017-09-10.
2. "Seventeenth World University Games -- 1993". USA Basketball. Archived from the original on 7 September 2015. Retrieved 12 October 2015.
3. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2007-07-05. Retrieved 2007-10-27.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

External links

• Merlakia Jones – Official WNBA player profile