Caitlin Clark’s medically disqualified ex-Iowa Hawkeye teammate retires from basketball: What happened to Ava Jones?

The success of Caitlin Clark and the tragedy of Ava Jones can be a perfect juxtaposition for how cruel life can be as the latter is forced into retirement following a car accident that has plagued her life and career since 2022.

Both of them were teammates with the Iowa Hawkeyes in the NCAA until Jones was caught up in a car collision with an impaired driver, which, two years later, has forced her into retirement after she was medically disqualified from college basketball.

Jones will continue as a scholarship student at the University of Iowa, but she will no longer be shooting hoops with Jan Jensen‘s team after he made the announcement on June 7 on the advise of his medical team.

“I would like to start by saying how grateful I am to have been part of the Iowa women’s basketball program,” Jones said in a message released on social media, via Michael Voepel of ESPN. “It is with great sadness to announce that I am medically retiring from college basketball.

“My coaches, doctors, teammates and trainers have been amazing since the accident. While I will no longer be a member of the women’s basketball program, I will still be on scholarship, receive a world-class education and forever be a Hawkeye.

“I’d like to thank my family for the never-ending support, and I am excited for the next chapter of my life.”

What happened to Ava Jones?

In a twisted action of fate, Jones wasn’t even in the car when the accident that destroyed her life and career took place. She was walking in Louisville, Kentucky, when an out-of-control driver veered onto the sidewalk and struck her and her family in July 2022.

Her father, Trey Jones, was killed in the incident whilst her mother was injured with brain damage. Jones herself sustained a traumatic brain injury, shoulder injury and torn ligaments in both of her legs.

The driver, Michael Hurley, was eventually charged with one count out murder and two counts of first-degree assault as well as one count of assault in the fourth degree and one count of operating a motor vehicle under the influence.

As if it wasn’t bad enough, he admitted to taking hydrocodone, an opioid, prior to driving whilst he was already on probation for drugs charges.

Hydrocodone, an opioid analgesic, is used to treat severe pain. It acts on the brain to alter pain perception. Side effects include drowsiness, dizziness, constipation, and respiratory depression. It can cause dependence and addiction.