Professional Taylor Jones hosting girls basketball clinic at Farmington Hills Mercy

Hometown Life By Brandon Folsom

Recently named Player of the Year in a women's basketball league in Chile, Taylor Jones has returned to Michigan and will host a clinic at Mercy.

Taylor Jones averaged 25.2 points per game this past season and was named Player of the Year of Liga Nacional Femenina, a professional women's basketball league in Chile. 

When she's not playing in South America, she's training with U.S Virgin Islands Basketball, as she hopes her national team will be good enough to qualify for the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. 

Whenever she's forced to stop competing in the game she loves, she plans on using the bevy of connections she made in the college basketball world while playing for Oakland University to become a Division I coach. 

And none of this would've been possible had Jones not graduated from Farmington Hills Mercy. It's the offseason for the guard, who recently returned to Michigan for rest and relaxation on July 12 but expects to be back playing professionally by September. One thing she makes sure she does during her time off here is host a girls basketball clinic with her fellow Marlins alumna each summer. 

This year's camp is slated for 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Aug. 10, inside the high school gym, 29300 W. 11 Mile Rd. The cost is $10 for players in third through 12th grade. 

"Mercy basically helped me further my basketball career, and I've had a great relationship with Coach (Gary) Morris at Mercy for quite some time," said Jones, a 2015 Mercy graduate who scored over 1,000 points during her high school career and was a Michigan Miss Basketball nominee. "When I was there all four years, the staff there was great. We won the Catholic League championship there, and I left a great legacy there. To this day, I still talk to my former teachers and principal there. I'm gone a majority of the year, and I'm not home a lot, but when I am I just want to make sure I can come back and help the kids there." 

Jones will teach campers fundamentals but also will tell them about her basketball journey, which includes playing at OU and finishing eighth on the Grizzlies' all-time scoring list with 1,615 points as well as competing professionally in 14 different countries. 

"I want them to know that everyone's journey in basketball will be different," Jones said. "Everyone will have their own story. It's not always about going D-I. It's about playing wherever you get the best opportunity to play and get an education, and that's what is most important. You've just got to keep a hard work ethic because, with hard work, you can achieve anything."Jones got a taste of coaching during the pandemic. She took a year off of playing overseas and joined Detroit Country Day's basketball staff under former coach Jerica Williams.

"Everybody has a calling," Jones said. "From the age of 6 or 7, I told people I wanted to be a basketball player when I'm older, and after this, I want to get into college coaching. I idolize (South Carolina coach) Dawn Staley and everything about her. I think she's a great coach and mother figure. I've played with someone who played under her at South Carolina, and they had nothing but good things to say about Dawn. And that's someone I aspire to be like one day."

Perhaps Jones' camp will help inspire girls who are on the fence about playing in high school to actually try out for the sport. Participation has been dwindling around Michigan."I'm definitely going to tell them how it's important to keep basketball relevant, especially with young females," Jones said. "Just look at the WNBA right now with (rookies) Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese. They're changing the face of the game. Caitlin Clark just got a shoe deal as a rookie, which is unheard of. Plus, with NIL (Name, Image and Likeness in the NCAA), they can now profit a lot of money. 

"Growing up, I had the Detroit Shock (a former WNBA team), and I idolized those females. But as time went on, they got sold to Tulsa. After that, women's basketball, as far as professionals, disappeared here in Michigan. So I didn't have anyone to look up to here. I just want it to stay relevant and use my platform as much as I can." 

Brandon Folsom covers high school sports in metro Detroit for Hometown Life. Follow him on Twitter @folsombrandonj.