The American, stripped of the five medals, including three gold, she won at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney after admitting taking banned performance-enhancing drugs, is hoping to reinvent herself a top-level basketball player.

Jones, now 34, undertook an intensive workout in front of Nolan Richardson, head coach of the Shock and his assistants assistants Wayne Stehlik and Tammy Bagby.

He was impressed.

Richardson told Tulsa World: "She had a good workout.

"The staff and I will evaluate what we saw and we'll go from there.

"She's awfully fast.

"You can see she's a well-conditioned athlete, maybe not so much in basketball shape.

"You can tell she has great work ethic."

Jones was formerly a top-class college basketball player and helped North Carolina win the NCAA title before giving it up to concentrate on her career in athletics.

She told Tulsa World: "I have an enormous passion for the game of basketball and I felt like I still had something to contribute to the world of sports.

"I've been training in San Antonio for a couple of months.

"I looked at different teams and to where I thought I would best fit in.

"I contacted [Richardson] and we've had conversations.

"I thought, why not come up and work out for him and see what he thinks.

"I knew from watching him years back at Arkansas that his style of play is up and down the basketball court.

"Anyone that knows me, that's certainly my specialty. When I was at North Carolina, that's how we played the game.

"We weren't half-court style of basketball.

"When he invited me to work out for him, I certainly jumped at the chance.

"I thought today went pretty well.

"I look forward to hearing back from him."

Richardson said that Jones needed to work on her shooting but was generally impressed by what he saw.

He said: "She's the type of athlete that will push herself."

Shock were founded as the Detroit Shock in 1998 - winning the Championship in 2003, 2006 and 2008 - but the WNBA announced last October that they were moving to Tulsa.

They are due to make their debut on May 15 against the Minnesota Lynx at the BOK Center.

Jones is desperate for the opportunity to get back into the spotlight.

She told Tulsa World: "To me, it's a lot bigger than just an opportunity to play basketball.

"It's an opportunity to share my personal message to a lot more people.

"I'm a competitor, I want to win.

"So I want to be a success on the court.

"It's been a rough, challenging journey for me the past few years.

"It's pretty much made me stronger.

"You never get past certain things.

"I'm sure everyone will reflect on the past and that's fine.

"I understand that, I accept that, but I'm on track now and looking forward."


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December 2009: Jones Sydney 100m gold medal to be left vacant
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December 2009: Disgraced sprinter Marion Jones planning a comeback