NEW YORK, (Reuters) – Disgraced Olympic sprinter  Marion Jones is hoping to make a sporting comeback in women’s  professional basketball, the New York Times reported on Monday.

The 34-year-old was released from prison last year after  serving most of a six-month sentence for lying about her use of  steroids and has been working out on the basketball court since  October.

Jones, who played basketball at the University of North  Carolina and won a national championship, is hoping to pick up a  deal in Europe and then sign for a WNBA team in time for   2010, the paper said.

“Back in May, when I got a call from someone in the NBA  asking if I would possibly be interested in the WNBA, my reaction  was ‘yeah, right’,” Jones told the paper.

“But I got off the phone, thought about it a little bit and  talked with my husband. I thought it would be an interesting  journey if I decided to do this. It would give me an opportunity to share my message to young  people on a bigger platform and give me an opportunity to get a  second chance.

“I think I can be an asset to a franchise so it comes down to  ‘why not?’ Really. Why not?”

Jones won gold in the 100 metres, 200 and 4×400 relay at the  2000 Sydney Olympics and took bronze in the long jump and 4×100  relay, to become the first woman to win five track and field  medals at a single Olympics.

She was stripped of the medals by the International Olympic  Committee in Dec. 2007 after she admitted to using  performance-enhancing drugs.