Texas Longhorns guard Andrew Jones diagnosed with Leukemia

Posted on January 10, 2018

The Texas Longhorns basketball team delivered heartbreaking news on Wednesday, announcing sophomore guard Andrew Jones has been diagnosed with leukemia.

Jones’ family released a statement saying:

“After undergoing a number of tests and evaluations over the past week, Andrew has been diagnosed with leukemia. He has begun treatments, and we hope everyone will keep him in your thoughts and prayers. This is obviously a difficult situation for our family, and we hope everyone will respect our privacy at this time.”

Head coach Shaka Smart released a statement as well, adding:

“Speaking for our entire team and staff, we love Andrew and will do everything we can to support his family and help him get back to health. I want to thank everyone for being respectful of the privacy that the Jones family needs at this time.”

Jones came into the program as part of the Class of 2016 as a McDonald’s All-American in high school. He averaged 11.4 points as a freshman last season and then flirted with the NBA Draft, before removing his name from the process.

This season, Jones had missed four games due to a wrist injury, but also saw some action against Kansas and Iowa State upon his return. Head coach Shaka Smart said that Jones had been lacking energy and planned to keep him out indefinably due to illness.

Even with the injuries and health issues, Jones was averaging 13.5 points, 2.4 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game.