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Former MacArthur Great Alexis Jones Transfers to Baylor

Alexis Jones

Former Duke point guard Alexis Jones, a native of Irving, Texas and former standout at MacArthur High Shool, has signed a Financial Aid Agreement to attend Baylor.

Jones spent two seasons at Duke where she averaged 11.1 points, 4.3 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 1.9 steals, starting every game both seasons. Jones suffered a season-ending knee injury (torn ACL) in February and missed the Blue Devils' last seven games.

The 5-8 guard will sit out the 2014-15 season and will have two season of eligibility remaining.

As a sophomore at Duke, Jones was an All-ACC selection (second team) by the ACC Coaches and averaged 13.1 points, 5.3 assists 4.1 rebounds and 2.1 steals a game. She tied school records in assists (15 at Florida State) and steals (10 vs. Notre Dame). As a freshman, she earned ACC Tournament MVP honors becoming just the third ACC freshman to earn the honor.

Jones played on the gold medal winning 2011 USA Basketball U19 World Championship team in Puerto Montt, Chile, appearing in all nine of the team's games.

Jones earned 2012 Parade Magazine All-America honors while leading Irving's MacArthur High School to a 69-4 record her junior and senior seasons. She guided MacArthur to the Class 5A state championship as a junior. During her senior year, Jones averaged 22.8 points, 7.0 rebounds, 5.9 assists and 4.4 steals en route to earning Gatorade Texas Girls Basketball Player of the Year honors. She was named Miss Texas Basketball as both a junior and senior.

“I would like to thank coach P for the opportunity to attend Duke University,” Jones said in a statement, referring to coach Joanne P. McCallie. “Due to injuries, I feel the need to be closer to my family.”

“Pretty soon after the idea that she would not be playing this year was the redshirt, then when you redshirt, it means, ‘Well, how are you going to handle your redshirt year being out and not playing?’ ” Coach McCallie said. “She just thought it was important to go closer to home, in a situation where she was going to sit out anyways, to be closer to family members. Whether it’s her extended family in South Carolina or direct family in Dallas.”

The injury-based facet of her decision stems not just from the ACL tear, but also from a knee injury sustained several years prior to college when she was involved in a car crash in which her father was left paralyzed.

Doctors determined Jones would require surgery on both knees in order to have the best shot at staying healthy. From there, Jones opened discussions with McCallie and her staff about playing closer to her family while she went through rehabilitation.

"I enjoyed my two yrs at Duke but I really just wanted to be closer to family," Jones said. "They're really excited about it. They're going to be able to come to a lot more games than they were able to at Duke. I have always admired and respected Coach Mulkey, I really feel a connection with her and I feel she can help me take my game to the next level."

Jones will sit out the 2014-15 season per NCAA transfer rules and then have two full seasons of eligibility remaining.  She expects to recover from her injury and come back fully healthy next season.

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