By Giana Pirolli | Sports Writer
The Baylor family is praying for Andrew Jones and Chameka Scott, who have both been fighting an opponent that isn’t on the basketball court.
On Jan. 10, the family of Texas sophomore guard Andrew Jones announced that he was diagnosed with leukemia. Andrew Jones’ sister is former Baylor guard Alexis Jones.
Andrew has many accolades, including averaging 11.4 points per game as a freshman at Texas. Also as a freshman, Jones played in all 33 games and started 23 of them. He was a serious NBA prospect and went through the NBA Pre-Draft Combine last May, but decided to withdraw his name from the draft pool and return to play at UT.
As a sophomore, Jones was leading Texas in scoring at 15.3 points per game before a wrist injury in December sidelined him.
His sister Alexis was a standout player on the women’s basketball team at Baylor after transferring from Duke University. Some of her accomplishments include being named Big 12 Newcomer of the Year in 2016, All-Big 12 First Team in 2016, while averaging 15 points, four assists and four rebounds in the 2015-2016 season. She also scored 1,278 career points (708 at Duke and 570 at Baylor). Jones now plays in the WNBA for the Minnesota Lynx. During the WNBA offseason, Jones plays for the Elitzur Neve David Ramla in Israel.
As an extension of the Baylor family, the Lady Bears Twitter account tweeted support for the Jones family on Jan. 10.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with @DrewdotCash, Lady Bear @Lextoo_shifty & the entire Jones family at this difficult time. #BaylorFamily”
Lady Bears head coach Kim Mulkey touched upon Jones’ diagnosis. Jones was playing overseas in Israel when the news about her brother broke.
“I reached out to her dad and Alexis and just you know when you’re a parent, it’s an unspoken language that you have that you don’t want your children sick or hurt in anyway and you just tell them ‘I’m here, we’re here, what can we do? Don’t hesitate to ask,’” Mulkey said. “Alexis is overseas playing and I texted her, and she texted back, and I just told her to be strong and to take care of herself over there. I’m sure Andrew is in great hands at Texas.”
Chameka Scott, who played for the Lady Bears when they won their first national championship in 2005, has also received the diagnosis that her cancer has returned. In 2015, Scott was diagnosed with colon cancer.
Mulkey acknowledged the severity of Scott’s diagnosis and the support the women’s team is sending her way.
“The cancer is back. It’s a very aggressive form,” Mulkey said. “She’s in the Anderson taking radiation treatment and has more to take, and then she’ll be released from the hospital. She just needs a lot of prayers. It’s tough.”
