Popeye Jones

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Ronald Jerome "Popeye" Jones (born June 17, 1970 in Dresden, Tennessee) is a former professional basketball player in the NBA.

After attending Murray State University, he was selected by the Houston Rockets in the second round (41st overall) of the 1992 NBA Draft but his rights were traded to the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for former University of Michigan center Eric Riley's draft rights. He played for the Mavericks for three seasons until being shipped to the Toronto Raptors for Riley's former Michigan Wolverines teammate, shooting guard Jimmy King. In addition, he has also played with the Boston Celtics, Denver Nuggets, Washington Wizards and Golden State Warriors. He also had a second stint with the Mavericks during the 2002-03 season, but he only played 26 of 82 games.

His best season was in 1995-96 with the Mavericks when he averaged 11.3 points and 10.8 rebounds per game while making 14 of 39 three-point attempts. This was an improvement on the previous year, when he averaged 10.3 points and 10.6 rebounds. He holds career per game averages of seven points and 7.4 rebounds.

He finished his college career as a three-time All-OVC selection and was named OVC Player of the Year in 1990 and 1991. Jones was honored as the OVC’s Athlete of the Year in 1991 and 1992. He is one of only seven MSU men’s basketball players to have his jersey retired, his number 54 hangs in the rafters of the Regional Special Events Center in Murray, Kentucky. Popeye ranks fourth on MSU’s all-time scoring list with 2,057 points. He is also MSU’s all-time leader in rebounds with 1,374, and led the nation in that category in the 90-91 season. He is the only player in MSU history to record more than 2,000 points and 1,000 rebounds.