Merlakia Jones

Merlakia Jones

Personal information
Born	(1974-06-21) June 21, 1974 Montgomery, Alabama
Nationality	American
Listed height	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
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× First-team All-SEC (1993–1995) 3× Honorable mention All-American (1993–1995)
Career WNBA statistics
Field goals %	.420
Free throws %	.753
Points scored	2,353
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Medals Women's basketball Representing the United States World University Games 1995 Fukuoka, Japan Team competition

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.

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.

USA Basketball

Jones represented the USA 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.

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. She played her WNBA final season Detroit Shock in 2004.

See also

• Florida Gators
• List of Florida Gators basketball players in WNBA
• List of University of Florida alumni

External links

• Merlakia Jones – Official WNBA player profile