A former Southern Miss and NBA basketball standout is reuniting with his former college teammate.
Clarence Weatherspoon has been hired as an assistant coach at Jones College.
The move was announced on June 24 by Bobcat head coach Newton Mealer, who was a teammate of Weatherspoon from 1989-92. The announcement comes 30 years to the day that Weatherspoon was selected in the NBA Draft.
“As the head coach my job is to elevate our program with character coaches and players,” Mealer said. “I believe we have done that. Spoon is a great friend. He is well connected, hardworking, humble and an excellent recruiter and teacher of the game. We found a formula for success at Southern Miss and I believe we will duplicate that at Jones.”
Weatherspoon starred under M.K. Turk with the Golden Eagles.
He scored 2,130 points at Southern Miss, which is second all-time in school history. As a senior, Weatherspoon averaged 22.3 points and 10.5 rebounds per game. For his Southern Miss career, he averaged 18.5 points and 11.3 rebounds per game. He helped the Golden Eagles to their first-ever NCAA Tournament in 1990 and another appearance in 1991.
Weatherspoon was a three-time Metro Conference Player of the Year – the only player in the history of the league to achieve that honor. He was also the all-time leading rebounder in conference history.
As an amateur, he participated on Team USA in the Goodwill Games and the Pan American Games.
Weatherspoon was the ninth overall pick in the first round of the 1992 NBA draft by the Philadelphia 76ers. He set a 76ers rookie franchise record with 1,290 points and had 45 double-doubles in his second year, the seventh-most in NBA history. He averaged 15.6 points per game as a rookie and led the team with 18.4 points per game in his second year.
Weatherspoon averaged 11.5 points and 7.5 rebounds during his 13-year NBA career. He played with Philadelphia (1992-98), Golden State (1998), Miami (1999-00), Cleveland (2000-01), New York (2001-03) and Houston (2003-05).
He played in 231 consecutive games at one point for the 76ers and participated in the 1993 Slam Dunk Contest, where he finished second.
Weatherspoon was an assistant coach at Southern Miss from 2016-22. Prior to that, he served as a volunteer assistant coach at Ridgeland High School, where his son, Clay Weatherspoon, played.
In the private sector, he was CEO of 3535 Entertainment. His responsibilities included contract negotiations, artist development, management and tour support. He negotiated label contracts with Asylum Records and Warner Music Group.
Over the years, Weatherspoon has been a speaker at camps, banquets and schools and has helped organize basketball camps in Brazil and Germany.
The Crawford, Mississippi, native earned his degree from Southern Miss in 1993. He and his wife, Hazel, have two sons, Clay and Bryant, and a daughter, Simone.
With this announcement, Mealer believes the future is bright for Jones College basketball.
“Jones is a special place and Spoon fits the championship culture I believe in,” he said. “It’s an exciting time for the Bobcats.”
