HANNIBAL, Mo. (KHQA) — 2019 KHQA Boys Basketball Player of the Year and former Hannibal High School star Dezi Jones is getting to realize his professional dreams.
Jones is signing with a team in the Slovenian Basketball League. He will join Rogaska Crystal.
“It’s an amazing chance and experience that I’m blessed with, to be a part of, and to just be surrounded by the game of basketball all my life, always dreaming of being a professional basketball player, and now that’s actually come true. It’s a surreal moment,” Jones said.
Jones is Hannibal’s all-time leading scorer with 2,153 points. He made college stops at Moberly Area Community College, Quinnipiac University, and Austin Peay University.
“Everybody has a different route in this profession, and there’s a lot of players that didn’t even go D1, and still made it to the NBA,” Jones said.
Not only will this opportunity overseas be a new way of basketball for Jones, but also a new way of life.
“I’ve never been across the waters before. I like experiencing new things. I like living other places than where I’m from, because that’s where you get a chance to see the real world, and how other cultures are and how other people are,” Jones said.
Jones graduated from Hannibal High School in 2019. He hopes to eventually reach the NBA.