Jones to try her luck in basketball

The 34-year-old was released from prison last year after serving most of a six-month sentence for lying about her use of steroids and has been working out on the basketball court since October.

Jones, who played basketball at the University of North Carolina and won a national championship, is hoping to pick up a deal in Europe and then sign for a WNBA team in time for the 2010, the paper said.  "Back in May, when I got a call from someone in the NBA asking if I would possibly be interested in the WNBA, my reaction was 'yeah, right'," Jones told the paper.

"But I got off the phone, thought about it a little bit and talked with my husband. I thought it would be an interesting journey if I decided to do this.  I think I can be an asset to a franchise so it comes down to 'why not?' Really. Why not?"

Jones won gold in the 100 metres, 200 and 4x400 relay at the 2000 Sydney Olympics and took bronze in the long jump and 4x100 relay.  She was stripped of the medals by the International Olympic Committee in December 2007 after she admitted to using performance-enhancing drugs.