Marion Jones addresses the media on Wednesday in Tulsa. (Shane Bevel/Associated Press)Marion Jones has signed on to play with the WNBA's Tulsa Shock, attempting a sports comeback after pregnancy and a spectacular fall from grace that included a prison spell.
Jones, 34, was introduced Wednesday at a news conference in Tulsa.
Jones is hoping to launch a new career after a prison stint and being stripped of five Olympic medals for using performance-enhancing drugs.
"The word redemption is not in my vocabulary," Jones said. "I'm a competitor, I want to play against the best in the world, and I know that I will be doing that."
Before gaining fame as a sprinter, Jones was the starting point guard on the University of North Carolina's 1994 national championship team. She was drafted by Phoenix in 2003 but never played in the WNBA.
"She made some ill-advised decisions in the past, but everyone deserves a second chance to excel at something they love," Shock president Steve Swetoha said Wednesday.
"The city of Tulsa gave a struggling franchise from Detroit a second chance, and I'm confident it will do the same for Marion. We couldn't be happier to have her on board."
The move also has been approved by the league, which has had its struggles with franchise health. The Shock will play at the 18,000-seat BOK Center in Tulsa, with the season beginning in May.
Jones will get a chance to return to the basketball flow under Shock coach and general manager Nolan Richardson. He led the Arkansas men's team to an NCAA championship the same year Jones won the title at North Carolina.
"Watching her go through drills, I saw a player who's perfect for our system," Richardson said. "The one thing I do know is she can run, and any player on my team who wants to be successful needs be able to run."
Jones was a star at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney but admitted two years ago that she had taken a designer steroid known as the "clear." She was stripped of her medals, including three golds.
She also spent about six months in a Texas federal prison for lying about doping and her role in a cheque-fraud scam that involved former boyfriend Tim Montgomery.
Montgomery, also a former sprinter, is currently imprisoned on two counts related to the fraud scam as well as of conspiracy to possess, with intent to distribute, heroin.
Jones and Montgomery have a son together. Jones subsequently married former sprinter Obadele Thompson, with whom she has two children, including a daughter born in 2009.
With files from CBCSports.ca
