Marion Jones Signs With WNBA's Tulsa Shock

Sports News - March 10th, 2010 - Written By John Ritter

Marion Jones has completed her return to basketball after a 16-year hiatus. The expansion Tulsa Shock have signed the fallen Olympic star to a free-agent contract worth $35,000 annually, almost a week after they conducted a workout.

Standing in the background as Jones showed off her wares Saturday, head coach Nolan Richardson got a pretty good idea of what there was left to salvage.

Jones, who spent six months in prison for check-fraud and lying about doping, wasn't completely back to her peak form, but there was enough left in the tank to merit an experiment.

“We’re thrilled to have her,” head coach Nola Richardson told the Tulsa World. “In the workouts last week I saw how hard she works. She has things you can’t teach, like speed and great hand and eye coordination. She looks chiseled. Her age (34) might be saying one thing but everything about her is saying she’s young."

Jones was a point guard for North Carolina during it's '94 National Championship season, and was drafted into the WNBA in '03, but ignored the sport to focus on her track and field career.

It came to a crumbling halt in 2007, though, when federal investigators discovered her use of a designer steroid, and Olympic officials stripped her of five medals from the 2000 Sydney Olympics. She was also shipped to prison for lying about steroids, and forging bad checks, and only returned to society last year. She immediately approached Richardson about playing for Tulsa.

“She chose us because she knows my style of basketball,” Richardson told the Tulsa World. “The only issue is how much time will she need to get her basketball body back.

“I got an idea of her speed last week. That (workout) was just to give me a sense of where she is and how far she needs to go to be in basketball shape.”

Despite her checkered past, Richardson insists Jones looks like a capable athlete of competing in the league, and said she possesses a willingness to get better.

“I’ve been coaching for 40 years and you can tell when someone is hearing you speak and listening to you speak,” he said. “She listens.”

And that, above all, is enough to counter the risk of taking an aged athlete with a criminal history.

“I talked with the WNBA and they told me there was no stipulation whatsoever about her joining the league,” Richardson said. “She’s stepping out, changing careers. I am too. She needed a place that fits and what better fit than here? I’m a no-nonsense coach. She understands that. I’m glad she came to me.”

Jones is only eight months removed from giving birth to a third child, and admitted she isn't yet in peak shape, but understands the game and is looking forward to returning.

"I started to think about wanting to get back into the world of sport last year," Jones said. "I have an enormous passion for the game of basketball and I felt like I still had something to contribute to the world of sports."

Tulsa will be in it's first season, and isn't considered a contender according to WNBA Betting Lines listed at online sportsbooks.