For a third consecutive season, the Connecticut Sun have qualified for the WNBA playoffs. The team seeks to capture its first title in its 18-year history.
The Sun’s power forward and center, Jonquel Jones, is the team All-Star this season, but it’s her contributions off the court that have given her the respect of her peers.
Jones is from the Bahamas, and she has been raising money to assist the recovery efforts following Hurricane Dorian. And come playoff time, the team plans to help.
Jonquel, thank you for joining us on All Things Considered. How will the team help the victims in the Bahamas?
The team has a “House of Jones” shirt that they’ve been selling this past season. It’s a shirt with my silhouette on it and the Bahamas flag on it, and after the hurricane, the team decided to donate 100% of the proceeds from this shirt and give it to Hurricane Dorian relief in the Bahamas. They’re also going to give all of the cash proceeds from the tickets sold, from our first playoff game, to the Bahamas as well, which is going to go a long way.
What do you expect the turnout to be at the semi-finals held at Mohegan Sun?
It’s going to be great. Our turnout and fan support is extremely well, I think it’s going to be awesome. Our last home game here in Mohegan was extremely good so I’m expecting nothing less. I think it’s going to be a really good turnout and I think a lot of money is going to be raised.
How does the team feel, confidence-wise, going into the playoffs?
We’re extremely confident. Our team knows what we can do. We know what we’re able to bring to the table, so being in a series and not a single-elimination game is going to allow us to shine very brightly. I think that as long as we play our brand of basketball, that basketball that we want to play which is play the team game that we’re known for, I think the sky’s the limit for us, and I think this year is going to be our championship year.
How can fans contribute to your Bahamas fundraising?
For anyone that’s listening right now, you can go to my Facebook page or you can go to my Instagram page and in my bio, there will be a link that you can go to and you can donate to my GoFundMe page, and all the proceeds will be going back to the Bahamas to help with Hurricane Dorian relief and helping the people there.
Jonquel Jones will power forward when the Connecticut Sun plays in the WNBA semifinals on September 17. Jonquel, thanks for speaking with us.
