Iowa basketball player Ava Jones announced Friday that she is retiring from college basketball, nearly two years after the car crash that seriously injured her and killed her father.
In a statement from the Hawkeyes, the forward said she may remain on the exchange but will no longer be a member of the team.
Jones’ full statement:
“I would like to start by saying how grateful I am to have been a part of the Iowa women’s basketball program. I am extremely blessed to have been a part of the journey last season.
“It is with great sadness to announce that I will be medically retiring. My coaches, doctors, teammates and trainers have been wonderful since the accident. Although I will no longer be a member of the women’s basketball program, I will still do so. ” get a scholarship, receive a world-class education, and be a Hawkeye forever.
“I would like to thank my family for their continued support and I look forward to the next chapter of my life.”
Jones was a four-star recruit and ESPN’s No. 84 member of the Class of 2023, but her career was derailed before she ever took the floor for Iowa.
On July 5, 2022, Jones, her brother and her parents were all struck by an allegedly impaired driver who drove his car onto a sidewalk in Louisville. The impact killed her father, Trey, and left her mother, Amy, with a brain injury and 21 broken bones, according to ESPN. Her younger brother was treated only for minor injuries.
Jones reportedly suffered a traumatic brain injury, torn ligaments in both knees and a shoulder injury, leaving her in doubt as to whether she would ever play basketball again. She had committed to play at Iowa just two days earlier.
Her injuries left her doctors and then-Iowa head coach Lisa Bluder impressed that she was even walking in October:
“I can’t believe she walked,” Bluder said, via The Cedar Rapids Gazette. “The doctor said, ‘I’ve never seen anyone come in here with four torn ligaments in one knee without crying.’”
The driver involved, Michael Hurley, was reportedly indicted by a grand jury and charged with one count of murder, two counts of first-degree assault, one count of fourth-degree assault and one count of operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated . He admitted to taking hydrocodone before driving, according to a police report.
