Dontae' Antijuaine Jones (born June 2, 1975) is an American former professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player, formerly of the Boston Celtics of the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United S ...

(NBA). Jones played college basketball at

Northeast Mississippi Community College Northeast Mississippi Community College (NEMCC) is a public community college in Booneville, Mississippi. History The college was founded in 1948 as ''Northeast Mississippi Junior College,'' and became known primarily as an agricultural school a ...

where he is the Tigers' all-time leading scorer, rebounder, and shot blocker. His #32 jersey has been retired by the school. After playing two seasons for the Tigers he transferred to

Mississippi State University Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university adjacent to Starkville, Mississippi. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Unive ...

to finish his college career. He was named Most Valuable Player of the

1996 SEC men's basketball tournament The 1996 SEC men's basketball tournament took place from March 7–10, 1996, at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana. The Mississippi State Bulldogs won the tournament title and received the SEC's automatic bid to the NCAA tourname ...

after leading Mississippi State to their first SEC Tournament championship by virtue of a win over top-ranked

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a Public University, public Land-grant University, land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentu ...

in the SEC tournament championship game. That same season he led Mississippi State to the NCAA Men's Basketball Final Four, picking up a Regional MVP honor along the way. Jones, along with his 1995–96 Bulldog teammates, was inducted into the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame in 2016. He was selected out of

as the 21st pick by the

New York Knicks The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the National Basketball Associat ...

in the 1996 NBA Draft but was traded, along with

Walter McCarty Walter Lee McCarty (born February 1, 1974) is an American basketball coach and former professional player. McCarty played for the NBA's New York Knicks, Boston Celtics, Phoenix Suns, and the Los Angeles Clippers. He last served as head coach ...

, John Thomas and

Scott Brooks Scott William Brooks (born July 31, 1965) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is the top assistant coach for the Portland Trail Blazers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played point guard at San Joa ...

, to the Celtics in exchange for Chris Mills shortly before the 1997–98 NBA season began (he had previously taken part in no games in 1996–97 with the Knicks due to a foot injury). After his NBA season, Jones played for the

Memphis Houn'Dawgs Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Memphis ...

in the

American Basketball Association The American Basketball Association (ABA) was a major men's professional basketball league from 1967 to 1976. The ABA ceased to exist with the ABA–NBA merger, American Basketball Association–National Basketball Association merger in 1976, ...

(ABA), and in Greece, Turkey, Italy, Korea and China. An apostrophe was intentionally placed on the end of his first name by his mother for distinctiveness. As of November 2012 he has been working as the program director at the Nashville Youth Basketball Association (NYBA), which is designed to help all middle Tennessee-area and Nashville city youth in metro Nashville improve their basketball skills. He is a highly regarded youth coach.

Notes

External links

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Basketpedya.com Player Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Dontae' 1975 births Living people 20th-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American sportspeople African-American basketball players American expatriate basketball people in China American expatriate basketball people in Greece American expatriate basketball people in Italy American expatriate basketball people in Mexico American expatriate basketball people in South Korea American expatriate basketball people in Turkey American expatriate basketball people in Venezuela American men's basketball players Anyang KGC players Apollon Patras B.C. players ABA All-Star Game players Basket Napoli players Basketball players from Nashville, Tennessee Beijing Ducks players Boston Celtics players CBA All-Star Game players Halcones de Xalapa players Korean Basketball League players La Crosse Bobcats players Mississippi State Bulldogs men's basketball players New York Knicks draft picks Northeast Mississippi Tigers basketball players Small forwards