Jumaine Jones, who was named SEC Newcomer of the Year in 1998 and led the SEC in scoring in 1999, will be the Georgia Bulldogs’ SEC Legend at the upcoming SEC men’s basketball tournament in Nashville.
This marks the 21st year of the SEC Basketball Legends program. Each of the 14 Legends will be recognized at halftime of his school’s first game of the tourney, which is slated for March 13-17 at Bridgestone Arena.
He was named the SEC’s top newcomer as a freshman in 1998 when he led the Bulldogs in scoring (14.7 ppg) and rebounding (8.5 rpg). As a sophomore, Jones led the league offensively by averaging 18.8 ppg and again paced Georgia with an average of 9.5 rpg. Jones became the first Bulldog to reach 1,000 career points as a sophomore since Dominique Wilkins did so.
Jones declared for the 1999 NBA draft and was selected in the first round by the Atlanta Hawks. He went on to play eight seasons with the Philadelphia 76ers, Cleveland Cavaliers,Boston Celtics, Los Angeles Lakers, Charlotte Bobcats and Phoenix Suns through the 2007 season. He continued his professional playing career internationally with success in Italy, Russia, Israel, Bulgaria, Puerto Rico and Mexico until retiring in 2017.
