Known as the "Thrilla From Camilla", Jones is originally from Cocoa, Florida, he moved to South Georgia as a freshman, where he played competitive high school basketball in the tiny town of Camilla, Georgia. There he honed his skills and as a senior became a 1997 2nd Team Parade All-American, averaging 32.8ppg 13.5rbs 3.7ast &amp; 2.6blks per game. He spent two standout seasons at the University of Georgia. As a freshman Jones shared the Freshman of the Year award with University of Tennessee guard Tony Harris in 1997-98 season, leading the team in scoring and rebounding averaging 14.7ppg 8.5rbs &amp; 1.0ast. Building on a good freshman campaign, Jones became the first UGA sophomore to lead the SEC in scoring since Vern Fleming in 1984, averaging 18.8ppg 9.5rbs &amp; 1.2stls. Additionally, in 1998-99 season, he was the first sophomore in school history to score 1,000 points since Dominique Wilkins did so in 1981. That year, he was also selected to represent the U.S. at the 1998 Goodwill Games. On the 1998 Goodwill Games Team, Jones started all 5 games alongside future 1999 NBA overall 1st pick Elton Brand as wells as overall 6th pick Wally Szczerbiak and 8th Andre Miller.