CEDAR CITY, Utah, Oct. 3 - Former Southern Utah University point guard Ray Jones, Jr., has signed a professional contract with MBK Handlova, which competes in the Slovak Extraliga, the highest level of professional basketball in Slovakia.

Jones (Little Rock, Ark./Hall HS), who was named Southern Utah's Male Athlete of the Year for 2011-12, led SUU in assists, steals, field goal percentage and minutes played last season. He averaged 4.5 assists and 1.2 steals and finished the season with a .348 field goal percentage from 3-point range. He played an average of 32.8 minutes per game and scored at a 9.9 points per game clip. Jones also pulled down 4.0 rebounds per game, which ranked third on the team.

He finished the 2011-12 season with 140 assists, the 10^th-highest single-season total in SUU history, and his 259 career assists rank seventh all-time at Southern Utah and third among players who spent just two seasons at the school.

Prior to joining the Thunderbirds Jones spent two seasons at Connors State College in Warner, Okla., where he was an all-conference performer who helped lead the Cowboys to a pair of conference championships and appearances in the NJCAA national tournament, where the team finished fourth in 2009.

Jones departed the USA on Monday to join his team, which begins league play on Oct. 10.

-- SUU --