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Cancer survivor Andrew Jones hits game-winner for Texas on 3-year anniversary of Leukemia diagnosis (Video)

By Mike Phillips

AUSTIN, TEXAS - FEBRUARY 24: Andrew Jones #1 of the Texas Longhorns brings the ball up court against the West Virginia Mountaineers at The Frank Erwin Center on February 24, 2020 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Chris Covatta/Getty Images)
AUSTIN, TEXAS - FEBRUARY 24: Andrew Jones #1 of the Texas Longhorns brings the ball up court against the West Virginia Mountaineers at The Frank Erwin Center on February 24, 2020 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Chris Covatta/Getty Images) /
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Andrew Jones nailed the game-winning three for Texas on a significant day.

In a script that would be unbelievable if it was a movie, the Texas Longhorns got another big win over West Virginia on Saturday. The 72-70 win was capped on a last-second three by Andrew Jones, who became an unlikely hero for the Longhorns, who have emerged early in the season as national title contenders.

The game-winner came three years to the day that Texas head coach Shaka Smart informed his team that Jones was diagnosed with leukemia. Jones missed the better part of two years before returning last season for the Longhorns, where he came off the bench for most of the season.

Andrew Jones hit the game-winner on the 3-year anniversary of his leukemia diagnosis

Texas has used Jones in the starting lineup this season and he has been a solid role player on an ascending team. The fact that Jones had a star turn today, on the three-year anniversary of his cancer diagnosis, is a truly unbelievable turn of events and offers an inspiring story to anyone fighting leukemia right now.

While Jones’ story contributed to this magical moment for Texas it is important that we don’t forget how good the Longhorns really are. Texas has now improved to 10-1 on the season and is a perfect 4-0 in Big 12 play with road wins over Kansas and West Virginia on its resume.

This is a remarkable turnaround orchestrated by Smart, who was on the hot seat last spring and may have been fired if the season hadn’t been disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic. Now the Longhorns are a complete and well-rounded machine that does have a bit of a magical element to their season, which will make them a fun squad to follow the rest of the way.

Texas has another stiff test coming up on Wednesday when they host Texas Tech but they have demonstrated that they are the biggest threat to Baylor on top of the conference.

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