The Stanford Cardinal are one of the most storied programs in women’s college basketball, and as head coach Tara VanDerveer continues racking up wins, the number of players she sends to the professional level continues to grow. Haley Jones, who has become a fixture of the Stanford program since arriving in 2019, figures to be the next in line.
Jones, a 6-foot-1 guard from Santa Cruz, California, has been hailed as “the future of the game” by VanDerveer and a “unicorn” by assistant coach Kate Paye, the latter term a metaphor typically used to describe multi-skilled players who are not bound to just one or two positions on the court. VanDerveer has gone so far as to call Jones “the Magic Johnson of women’s basketball,” referencing the NBA legend who has gone down as perhaps the most electrifying playmaker in basketball history.
It’s high praise, of course, especially for someone who has yet to play in a professional game. Jones certainly has the tools to become special, though, and in an era in which positional versatility is becoming more and more valued, she has the opportunity to carve out a niche all her own and redefine what WNBA teams look for in a primary ball handler.
As it currently stands, Jones is the focal point of a Stanford program that has…
