For the second time in three seasons a LIU player was named the Lt. Frank J. Haggerty Award winner as the top player in the metro area in 1997 by the Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association. The 64th annual NIT/MBWA Collegiate Awards dinner was held on Monday, April 28, 1997 at the Giants Stadium Club in East Rutherford, NJ.

Jones, a Brooklyn phenom, who started his collegiate career at Rutgers for two seasons, transferred to Long Island University for the 1996-97 season and led the Blackbirds to two of the best seasons in school history. Jones led the nation in scoring as a junior with a 30.1 per game average, a feat he accomplished again as a senior. He capped a 21-9 junior season by getting 37 points and 13 rebounds in a loss to Villanova in the first round of the NCAA tournament. Jones played two seasons in the NBA.

Though he only played two seasons for the LIU men's basketball team, Jones still ranks as one of the best to ever step foot on the Brooklyn campus. Jones led the nation in scoring in both of his two seasons at LIU, becoming only the seventh player in NCAA history to do so. He graduated with 1,772 career points, a total that ranks fourth on the all-time list to this day. Along with his Haggerty Award, he was also named the 1997 NEC Tournament MVP and honorable mention All-American. One of only six players to ever lead his conference in both scoring and assists, he led the Blackbirds to 42 wins, consecutive NEC regular season crowns and the NCAA Tournament in 1997.
 
Jones averaged 30.1 points per game in his first season, which is still an LIU record, and just one of six single-season records that he still holds today, including points in a season (903), field goals made (338), three pointers made (116), and steals per game (2.9).

He went on to play two years in the National Basketball Association with the Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Clippers, before embarking on a career overseas in Europe.