Popeye Jones

Ronald Jerome "Popeye" Jones (born June 17, 1970) is a retired American professional basketball player and is currently an assistant coach for the Indiana Pacers of the National Basketball Association (NBA).

College career

Born in Dresden, Tennessee, Jones played college basketball for Murray State University. He finished his college career as a three-time All-Ohio Valley Conference selection and was named OVC Player of the Year in 1990 and 1991. Jones was honored as the OVC's Athlete of the Year in 1991 and 1992. He is one of only seven MSU men's basketball players to have his jersey retired, his number 54 hangs in the rafters of the CFSB Center in Murray, Kentucky. Jones ranks fourth on Murray State's all-time scoring list with 2,057 points. He is also Murray State's all-time leader in rebounds with 1,374, and led the nation in that category in the 1990-91 season. He is the only player in Murray State history to record more than 2,000 points and 1,000 rebounds.

NBA career

After college, he was selected by the Houston Rockets in the second round (41st overall) of the 1992 NBA Draft but his rights were traded to the Dallas Mavericks for those of former University of Michigan center Eric Riley. After playing professionally in Europe for a season, he played for the Mavericks for three seasons until being traded to the Toronto Raptors for Riley's former Michigan Wolverines teammate, shooting guard Jimmy King. Jones also played with the Boston Celtics, Denver Nuggets, Washington Wizards and Golden State Warriors. He had a second stint with the Mavericks during the 2002-03 season, but played in only 26 of 82 games.