Mike Jones (basketball, born 1956)

Last updated
Mike Jones
Personal information
Born1956 (age 6566)
Alabama, United States
NationalityAmerican
Listed height201 cm (6 ft 7 in)
Career information
Playing career1981–1983
Position Center / Forward
Career history
1981–1983 Illawarra Hawks
Career highlights and awards

Michael Jones (born 1956) is an American former professional basketball player. He played three seasons with the Illawarra Hawks in the Australian National Basketball League (NBL) between 1981 and 1983, where he was the league's MVP in 1981 and the league's scoring champion in 1981 and 1983. He was listed by the NBL in 1983 as 201 cm and a center/forward. [1]

Contents

Early life

Jones was born in the state of Alabama. [2]

Professional career

Jones moved to Australia in 1981 to play for the Illawarra Hawks in the National Basketball League (NBL). [2] He was voted league MVP in his first season [3] and was the league's scoring champion with 671 points in 22 games [4] for an average of 30.5 per game. [5] He was also the free throw percentage leader for 1981 with 87.6% (113/129). [4]

In his second season with the Hawks in 1982, Jones averaged a career-low 23.9 points per game. [5]

Jones was club captain in his third season with the Hawks in 1983. [6] He went on to earn the NBL scoring title for the second time with 719 points in 22 games [4] for a career-high average of 32.7 per game. [5]

For his career, Jones averaged 28.7 points on 51 per cent field goal shooting in 70 NBL games. [5] In January 2018, he was named one of the 12 Greatest Hawks of All Time by the Illawarra Mercury . [7]

Upon leaving the NBL, Jones reportedly returned to the United States to play semi-professionally. [2]

Related Research Articles

Kirk Penney New Zealand basketball player

Kirk Samuel Penney is a New Zealand former professional basketball player and current Player Development Manager on the coaching staff with University of Virginia. During an outstanding college career with the University of Wisconsin, Penney helped the Badgers to an NCAA Final Four his first year and a Sweet Sixteen in his senior year along with two Big Ten Conference titles, and was twice named first team all-conference and an all-American. He is in the University of Wisconsin Hall of Fame.

Illawarra Hawks Australian basketball team

The Illawarra Hawks is an Australian professional basketball team based in Wollongong, New South Wales. The Illawarra Hawks compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at WIN Entertainment Centre, known colloquially as "The Sandpit". The Illawarra Hawks are the only remaining NBL team to have competed in every season since the league's inception in 1979. The team won their first and so far only NBL Championship in 2001 and finished as runners-up in 2005, 2010 and 2017.

Glen Saville

Glen Saville is an Australian former professional basketball player who played the majority of his career for the Wollongong Hawks of the National Basketball League (NBL).

Andrew Ogilvy

Andrew James Ogilvy is an Australian-Irish professional basketball player for the Illawarra Hawks of the National Basketball League (NBL). He played three seasons of college basketball for Vanderbilt before playing in Europe for the first three years of his professional career. After a season in his hometown with the Sydney Kings, he returned to Spain for a second stint. In 2015, he joined the Illawarra Hawks and helped lead them to a grand final appearance in 2017.

Jarrod Kenny New Zealand basketball player

Jarrod Daniel Kenny is a New Zealand professional basketball player for the Cairns Taipans of the Australian National Basketball League (NBL). The 188 cm point guard attended Westlake Boys High School and has represented the New Zealand Tall Blacks multiple times.

Cedric Lamar Jackson is an American professional basketball player who last played for the Illawarra Hawks of the National Basketball League (NBL). He played two years of college basketball for Cleveland State University, where he made a notable game-winning full-court shot against Syracuse and helped the Vikings past Wake Forest in the first round of the 2009 NCAA Tournament.

Gary Ervin American professional basketball player

Gary Ervin is an American professional basketball player who last played for Chorale Roanne Basket of the French LNB Pro B. He played college basketball for Mississippi State University and the University of Arkansas. Ervin was the NBL's Most Valuable Player for the 2010–11 NBL season while playing for the Wollongong Hawks.

Kevin Lisch American-Australian basketball player

Kevin John Lisch is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is an assistant coach for the Sydney Kings of the National Basketball League (NBL). He also holds an Italian passport and is an Australian citizen.

Dion Anthony Prewster is an American-born New Zealand professional basketball player for Melbourne United of the Australian National Basketball League (NBL). He played college basketball for San Jacinto College and Stephen F. Austin State University.

Lucas Walker Australian basketball player

Lucas Walker is an Australian basketball player for the Illawarra Hawks of the NBL1 East. He played 10 seasons in the National Basketball League (NBL) between 2010 and 2020. He played college basketball for Montana State University Billings and Saint Mary's College of California before joining the Melbourne Tigers in 2010. After five seasons with Melbourne, he had stints with the Adelaide 36ers, Perth Wildcats, Cairns Taipans and Sydney Kings. He won an NBL championship with the Wildcats in 2017.

Brian Conklin American basketball player (born 1989)

Brian Conklin is an American professional basketball player who last played for Semt77 Yalovaspor of the Basketball Super League. He played college basketball for Saint Louis University and has since played in New Zealand, Australia, Puerto Rico and France.

Cody Ellis Australian basketball player

Cody Gordon Ellis is an Australian professional basketball player for the Warwick Senators of the NBL1 West. After four years of college basketball for Saint Louis University, Ellis had a five-year stint in the NBL with the Sydney Kings and Illawarra Hawks.

Bryce Cotton American basketball player

Bryce Jiron Cotton is an American professional basketball player for the Perth Wildcats of the National Basketball League (NBL). He played college basketball for the Providence Friars, where he was a two-time first-team All-Big East honoree. He joined the Austin Spurs in 2014 before splitting the next two years in the NBA and NBA Development League, and spending time in China and Turkey. He spent the back-end of the 2014–15 season with the Utah Jazz and had short stints with the Phoenix Suns and Memphis Grizzlies during the 2015–16 season. In January 2017, he arrived in Australia to play for the Wildcats. Two months later, he guided Perth to the NBL championship behind a Grand Final MVP performance. He continued on with the Wildcats for the 2017–18 season and won the NBL Most Valuable Player Award. He won his second and third NBL championships in 2019 and 2020 while also garnering his second NBL MVP and second Grand Final MVP in 2020. He won his third NBL MVP in 2021.

Casey Prather American basketball player

Casey Prather is an American professional basketball player for Hapoel Eilat of the Israeli Basketball Premier League. He played college basketball for the University of Florida before playing professionally in the NBA Development League, Australia, Germany and Greece. In 2016, he won an NBL championship with the Perth Wildcats. He helped the Wildcats defend their title in 2017, while earning All-NBL First Team honors. With a move to Melbourne United came another championship for Prather, as he collected a personal three-peat in 2018.

Marcel Jones (basketball) American/New Zealand basketball player

Marcel Xavier Jones is an American-New Zealand professional basketball player for Sitra Club of the Bahraini Premier League. He played college basketball for the Oregon State Beavers between 2004 and 2008 before embarking on a professional career that spanned across the globe, from Europe and the Middle East, to his adoptive home of New Zealand. Since 2009, Jones has had consistent yearly stints in the New Zealand NBL, largely due to gaining New Zealand citizenship in 2012.

Todd Blanchfield is an Australian professional basketball player for the Perth Wildcats of the National Basketball League (NBL). He began his NBL career in 2009 with the Townsville Crocodiles, where he played six seasons. Between 2015 and 2020, he played for Melbourne United (2015–17), Sydney Kings (2017–18) and Illawarra Hawks (2018–20). In 2017, he won a gold medal with Australia at the FIBA Asia Cup.

Marvelle Martray Harris is an American professional basketball player for Bakken Bears of the Basketligaen. He played college basketball for Fresno State, where he was named the Mountain West Player of the Year as a senior in 2016.

William "Butch" Hays is an American-Australian former professional basketball player who played most of his career in Australia's National Basketball League (NBL) from 1991 to 2003.

Jim Slacke is an American former professional basketball player who played seven seasons in the Australian National Basketball League (NBL) for the Illawarra Hawks.

Norman Taylor was an American basketball player who played three seasons in the Australian National Basketball League (NBL) for the Illawarra Hawks. At 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m), he played center for the Hawks. He played college basketball for the Bridgeport Purple Knights, earning All-American honors in 1987.

References

  1. "FLASHBACK 14: NBL Media Guide 1983". botinagy.com. Archived from the original on September 23, 2017. Retrieved April 25, 2022.
  2. 1 2 3 "Mike Jones". andthefoul.net. Archived from the original on March 22, 2016. Retrieved April 25, 2022.
  3. "#FlashbackFriday to the first Illawarra Hawks NBL MVP Mike Jones!". facebook.com/TheNBL. 25 March 2016. Archived from the original on 19 November 2019.
  4. 1 2 3 "All Time Leaders". NBL.com.au. Archived from the original on 23 September 2017.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "Player statistics for Michael Jones – 1983". NBL. Archived from the original on 19 November 2019.
  6. "GREATEST HAWKS PROFILES" (PDF). Illawarra Mercury . Archived (PDF) from the original on April 25, 2022. Retrieved April 25, 2022.
  7. "Your 12 greatest Illawarra Hawks of all time revealed". illawarramercury.com.au. January 13, 2018. Archived from the original on January 13, 2018.