Marion Jones to play in WNBA

NEW YORK, (Reuters) – Disgraced Olympic sprinter  Marion Jones signed a contract yesterday to play with the  WNBA’s Tulsa Shock in a bid to revive her athletic career.

The WNBA marks a second chance for Jones, who was stripped  of five Olympic medals for using performance-enhancing drugs and  sent to prison for lying about her steroid use, which ended her  track career.

“I’m extremely excited to join the team and the WNBA,” Jones  said in a statement on the WNBA website (www.wnba.com). “After a  lot of thought, I realized this is a great fit for me because of  coach Richardson’s uptempo style of play.”

Jones attended the University of North Carolina on a  basketball scholarship, where she played point guard and helped  lead the Tar Heels to a 92-10 record over three seasons and a  national championship in 1994.

Drafted by the Phoenix Mercury in the third round of 2003  WNBA draft, Jones still ranks fifth on North Carolina’s career  assist list, third in steals and seventh in blocks.

Jones is sure to bring some badly needed attention to the  WNBA and Shock coach Nolan Richardson said he is confident the  34-year-old former-sprint queen will be able to rediscover her  college form.

“Watching her go through drills, I saw a player who’s perfect for our system,” said Richardson. “The one thing I do know is she can run, and any player on my team who wants to be successful needs to be able to run.”

Jones won three golds and two bronzes for the United States  at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, where she was the golden girl and  smiling face of the Games. But she was sentenced to six months  in jail in January 2008 for lying to federal prosecutors about  using performance-enhancing drugs.

“She made some ill-advised decisions in the past, but  everyone deserves a second chance to excel at something they  love,” said Shock president Steve Swetoha. “The city of Tulsa  gave a struggling franchise from Detroit a second chance, and  I’m confident it will do the same for Marion.”