Wilbert Jones (born February 27, 1947) 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.

Career

A 6'8"

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

born in

McGehee, Arkansas McGehee is a city in Desha County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 4,219 at the 2010 census. History The history of the city of McGehee and the history of the railroad through McGehee are intricately interwoven. The history of th ...

, and played college basketball at

Albany State University Albany State University is a public historically black university in Albany, Georgia. In 2017, Darton State College and Albany State University consolidated to become one university under the University System of Georgia (USG). Albany State Un ...

, he was named a Little All-American by

UPI United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20th c ...

for the 1968–69 season, as the Golden Rams won their third consecutive

Southeastern Athletic Conference The Southeastern Athletic Conference (SEAC) was an intercollegiate athletic conference of historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) that existed from 1929 to 1961. It was known as the South Atlantic Intercollegiate Athletic Association ...

regular season title. Jones was drafted in the fifth round of the

1969 NBA draft The 1969 NBA draft was the 23rd annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on April 7 and May 7, 1969, before the 1969–70 season. In this draft, fourteen NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college bas ...

by the

Los Angeles Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Lakers play their ...

and by the

Miami Floridians The Miami Floridians, later in their history known simply as The Floridians, were a professional basketball franchise in the original, now-defunct American Basketball Association. The Miami Floridians played in the ABA from 1968 through 1970 when ...

in the 1969 ABA Draft. Jones played seven seasons (1969–1976) 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, ...

as a member of the

, Memphis Pros/Tams and

Kentucky Colonels The Kentucky Colonels were a member of the American Basketball Association for all of the league's nine years. The name is derived from the historic Kentucky colonels. The Colonels won the most games and had the highest winning percentage of ...

. After the

ABA–NBA merger The ABA-NBA merger was a major pro sports business maneuver in 1976 when the American Basketball Association (ABA) combined with the National Basketball Association (NBA), after multiple attempts over several years. The NBA and ABA had entered ...

in 1976 Jones was selected by the

Indiana Pacers The Indiana Pacers are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis. The Pacers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The Pacers were first esta ...

in the

ABA Dispersal Draft The 1976 NBA draft was the 30th annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on June 8, 1976, before the 1976–77 season. In this draft, 18 NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball players a ...

and played two seasons (1976–1978) in 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 ...

for the

and

Buffalo Braves The Buffalo Braves were an American professional basketball franchise based in Buffalo, New York. The Braves competed in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member club of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division from 1970 ...

. Jones won the 1975 ABA Championship with the 1974–75 Kentucky Colonels, and was named to the 1975 ABA All-Defense Team. In his ABA/NBA career, he tallied 8,482 total points, 5,560 total

rebounds 'Rebound' is a term used in sports to describe the ball (or puck or other object of play) becoming available for possession by either opponent after an attempt to put the ball or puck into the goal has been unsuccessful. Rebounds are generally ...

and 1,446 total assists. His brothers

Caldwell Jones Caldwell "Pops" Jones (August 4, 1950 – September 21, 2014) was an American professional basketball player. Jones was drafted out of Albany State College by the Philadelphia 76ers with the 14th pick in the 1973 NBA draft. He played three seaso ...

, Charles Jones and

Major Jones Major James Brooks Jones (born July 9, 1953) is an American retired professional basketball player who played in the NBA and other leagues. Born in McGehee, Arkansas, he attended and played college basketball at Albany State University. He was ...

all played in the NBA.

References

External links

Career statistics
at basketball-reference.com

at Remember the ABA {{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Wil 1947 births Living people African-American basketball players Albany State Golden Rams men's basketball players American men's basketball players Basketball players from Arkansas Buffalo Braves players Indiana Pacers draft picks Indiana Pacers players Kentucky Colonels players Los Angeles Lakers draft picks Memphis Pros players Memphis Tams players Miami Floridians draft picks Miami Floridians players People from McGehee, Arkansas Small forwards 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American sportspeople