Earl Amasa Jones (born January 13, 1961) 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. He was a member of 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

Milwaukee Bucks The Milwaukee Bucks are an American professional basketball team based in Milwaukee. The Bucks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded in 1968 ...

Early years

Jones attended Mount Hope High School for three seasons, where he led the school to 63 wins in 72 games and the 1978 West Virginia Class AA championship game, while he averaged 28 points. But he struggled outside of the basketball court and at one point as a junior, missed 63 consecutive days of school. As a senior, he was convinced by William Robinson (who had become his legal guardian), to transfer to

Spingarn High School Joel Elias Spingarn High School was a public high school located in the District of Columbia, USA. The school is named after Joel Elias Spingarn (1875–1939) an American educator and literary critic who established the Spingarn Medal in 1913, aw ...

, where he had to go through a legal process over his eligibility. He averaged 20 points and 15 rebounds per game, while leading the team to a city championship. He was considered an elite basketball prospect and one of the best players in the nation, but his low grades (2.1 grade average) limited the offers he received from

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of College athletics, intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major ...

schools.

College career

Jones enrolled at Division II

University of the District of Columbia The University of the District of Columbia (UDC) is a public historically black land-grant university in Washington, D.C. It was established in 1851 and is the only public university in the city. UDC is a member school of the Thurgood Marshall ...

, where Robinson was named an assistant coach. As a sophomore in 1982, he led the school to the National Collegiate Athletic Associate Division II Championship. He was a three-time Division II All-American and a two-time

NCAA Division II NCAA Division II (D-II) is an intermediate-level division of competition in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It offers an alternative to both the larger and better-funded Division I and to the scholarship-free environmen ...

Player of the Year, with a career scoring average of 21.7 points. He represented the United States in the

World Games The World Games are an international multi-sport event comprising sports and sporting disciplines that are not contested in the Olympic Games. They are usually held every four years, one year after a Summer Olympic Games, over the course of 11 d ...

Professional career

Entering the

1984 NBA draft The 1984 NBA draft was the 37th annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). It was held at the Felt Forum at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York, on June 19, 1984, before the 1984–85 season. The draft is generally c ...

, he was considered a risk, because of his small school experience, his underdeveloped body and his reputation as an underachiever. He was selected by the

with the 23rd pick in the 1st round of the

. As a rookie, he was limited by injuries, including a fractured right foot. He appeared in only two games for a total of seven minutes and took only one shot. On October 9, 1985, he was traded to the

San Antonio Spurs The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio. The Spurs compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference Southwest Division ( ...

in exchange for "future considerations". On October 22, he was waived. In 1985, he played for the

Kansas City Sizzlers The Topeka Sizzlers, originally the Kansas City Sizzlers, were a professional basketball team based in Kansas City, Missouri from 1985 to 1986 until they relocated to Topeka, Kansas where they played from 1986 to 1990. The Sizzlers were members o ...

of the

Continental Basketball Association The Continental Basketball Association (CBA) (originally known as the Eastern Pennsylvania Basketball League, and later as the Eastern Professional Basketball League and the Eastern Basketball Association) was a men's professional basketball m ...

. On January 13, 1986, he signed a 10-day contract with the

. On January 23, he signed a second 10-day contract. In 1995, he signed with the

Rockford Lightning The Rockford Lightning was a basketball team that played in the Continental Basketball Association. They were based in Rockford, Illinois. History The Lightning were the oldest team in the CBA, originally existing as the Lancaster Red Roses fro ...

of the

References

External links

NBA stats
@ basketballreference.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Earl 1961 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in Italy American expatriate basketball people in Spain American men's basketball players Basketball players from West Virginia Centers (basketball) Joventut Badalona players Kansas City Sizzlers players Liga ACB players Los Angeles Lakers draft picks Los Angeles Lakers players McDonald's High School All-Americans Milwaukee Bucks players Olympique Antibes basketball players Pallacanestro Trieste players Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) People from Oak Hill, West Virginia Rockford Lightning players UDC Firebirds men's basketball players United States men's national basketball team players 1982 FIBA World Championship players