Olympics 2024: Brianna Jones realizing dream with Puerto Rico women's basketball team

Christina Jones, the mother of Olympian Brianna Jones, remembers getting a call from the coach of the Puerto Rico women’s basketball team as her daughter was boarding a plane to play professionally in Saudi Arabia. That coach, Jerry Batista, wanted Jones to try out for the Puerto Rican national team.

Jones met up with Batista as quickly as she could following her Saudi Arabia season to explore that opportunity.

Jones, who graduated from North Babylon High School in 2015, was selected to play for Puerto Rico for Olympic qualifying and made the final 12-player roster for the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Jones, a 5-10 guard, is eligible to play for Puerto Rico under FIBA guidelines because her maternal grandmother and grandfather were born there. Jones, who averaged 6.3 points in 14.7 minutes per game over three qualifying games in China, will be playing in her first Olympics.

“I get emotional thinking about it,” Christina said. “And her grandfather is extremely proud. He takes pictures of him in her jersey, meanwhile, it’s two sizes too small for him, but somehow he squeezes into those jerseys and takes those pictures.”

Jones, however, isn’t the only Long Island product playing for Puerto Rico. Arella Guirantes, who graduated from Bellport the same year as Jones, also is on the roster.

India Pagan, a 6-1 forward, graduated from Stony Brook University in 2022 and is playing in her second Olympics for Puerto Rico. Her size provides Puerto Rico additional height when needed based on matchups and foul trouble.

Puerto Rico, which finished 12th in the 2020 Olympics, defeated New Zealand, 69-67, on Feb. 10 to qualify for Paris. It will face Serbia on Sunday in Group A, which also features Spain and China.

“I didn’t know how I would react,” her father, Rod Jones said. “But when they qualified and I realized that she would be going to Paris to represent Puerto Rico, that was kind of hard for me to put into words. I can’t lie about that, I didn’t see that coming. We were just all really excited for her.”

Jones played college basketball at Louisville and Georgetown before playing professionally in countries like Saudi Arabia, China and Germany. She will be joined by both Rod and Christina to watch her live out a dream.

“We’re extremely proud for her to have gotten this far and to have this achievement in her career is superb,” Christina said. “Any parent would be proud to see their parents have achieved their dreams.”

“What she’s doing professionally is pretty much what she’s been doing since middle school and that’s play basketball every day,” Rod said. “So the fact that she has the opportunity to go for the Olympics, you could make the case she’s been preparing for this since Day One.”

Marc Riley was an assistant coach at North Babylon when Jones was on the varsity team. He remembers Jones being a special talent, but even Riley admits he couldn’t have expected to see her suit up in the Olympics one day.

“Obviously you can see that she was clearly a Division I player and she was a hard worker, so all those things were clear as day, but to predict going to the Olympics and represent your respective country, I couldn’t have said I saw that coming,” Riley said. “But she definitely had a bright, bright future.”

Riley said he remembers Jones having one of the best jump shots on Long Island. She was a two-time Newsday All-Long Island selection and the majority of her life has been centered around basketball.

“I think she’s just looking at it as another opportunity to play basketball,” Riley said. “She’s one of those kids who loves basketball and this is the opportunity for her to continue that love. And the fact that she now gets to represent the Puerto Rican national team, that’s a great opportunity for her.”