Texas G Andrew Jones reportedly cleared for all basketball activities

Andrew Jones’ comeback story is now set to come full circle.

More than a year and a half removed from a leukemia diagnosis that cut his sophomore season short after only 10 games, Jones has been cleared for all basketball-related activities ahead of the 2019-20 season, per a report from CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein.

“Before the diagnosis, Jones was on track to become a key piece in Smart’s Texas tenure after averaging 11.4 points per game as a freshman and opting to return to school after exploring the pre-draft process,” BON’s Wescott Eberts wrote. “As a sophomore, Jones took the next step in the 10 games in which he appeared by increasing his scoring average thanks to major gains in efficiency, including a jump of nearly 10 percentage points in his shooting percentage and even greater gains behind the arc, skyrocketing from a 32.8 shooting percentage from distance to 46.3 percent.”

Of course, the leukemia diagnosis cut Jones’ sophomore season short right as he appeared to blossoming into a sure-fire NBA prospect, though remarkably, Jones returned to the floor 10 months later during Texas’ 2018-19 season opener against Eastern Illinois.

However, Jones’ junior season never really amounted to much in terms of playing time, as he appeared in only two games before receiving further treatment over the Christmas break. But as Bitterwhiteguy wrote at Barking Carnival, that was largely a decision designed to stretch Jones’ eligibility in Austin.

“I expect Andrew Jones to play next season, and play a lot. The only reason he didn’t play in the second half of the year was to preserve redshirt options going forward. Barring some sort of really severe medical U-turn, he’s ready to rock.”

As we now now, Jones is, in fact, ready to rock just shy of three months before Texas’ Nov. 5 season opener against Northern Colorado.