South Sudan's Senior Men's National Basketball Team made an incredible run to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics. At the forefront of their run stand many important figures.
Few are as important as starting point guard Carlik Jones.
Jones, who has represented South Sudan internationally since 2023, brings NBA experience as a heady guard that sets the table for a talented roster capable of making noise at the Olympics.
He put his talents on full display with a triple-double in South Sudan's thrilling one-point loss to Team USA ahead of the Paris Olympics. In his Olympic debut, Jones scored 19 points in a win over Puerto Rico.
With South Sudan's sights set on making more history at the Olympics, Jones' name is one you'll want to be familiar with.
MORE: Inside South Sudan's basketball team: A complete roster and more to know about historic rise
Who is Carlik Jones?
Jones is an American-South Sudanese basketball player who will spend the 2024-25 season with Serbian club KK Partizan. He spent last season with the Zhejiang Golden Bulls in the Chinese Basketball Association.
Born in Cincinnati, Jones played collegiately at Radford University and the University of Louisville.
Jones went undrafted in 2021 and signed with the Texas Legends of the NBA G League, earning 10-day contracts with the Mavericks and Nuggets during his rookie season.
After spending the 2021-22 season with the Mavericks and Nuggets organizations, Jones signed a two-way contract with the Bulls for the 2022-23 season. Jones was named MVP of the 2023 NBA G League season.
South Sudan assistant coach Luol Deng personally called Jones in 2023, recruiting him to join the team's efforts in qualifying for the Olympics at the FIBA Basketball World Cup. He received a South Sudanese passport and joined the team as its one naturalized player, per FIBA rules.
Jones averaged 20.4 points as South Sudan punched its ticket by finishing higher than all other FIBA Africa teams in the tournament.
How do you pronounce Carlik Jones' name?
Carlik is pronounced car-LEEK, according to a pronunciation guide at the University of Louisville. Here is video of him saying his name during his time with the Cardinals.
Welcome HOME, @CarlikJones.#GoCards pic.twitter.com/n2cMTNJAwX
— Louisville Men's Basketball (@LouisvilleMBB) August 28, 2020
MORE: Meet the 17-year-old Duke commit playing for South Sudan at the Olympics
Carlik Jones NBA stats
- 12 games
- 6.6 minutes per game
- 2.0 points per game
- 0.7 rebounds per game
- 0.9 assists per game
- 29.2 percent field goal shooting
- 42.9 percent 3-point shooting
- 70.0 percent free throw shooting
