BIO: Blake Jones was born in Brisbane (QLD) and had a very successful junior career, representing both Queensland and Australia at various age levels. Jones has also spent time in the USA, receiving a NBA Global Academy Scholarship in 2018 and also attended the 2020 Basketball Without Borders Global Camp in Chicago. Jones received a scholarship to attend the Australian Institute of Sport (Canberra) in 4037. He spent two years year there and played for the program’s state league team (2019, 2020).

NBL EXPERIENCE

Blake Jones made his NBL debut with the Brisbane Bullets at 18 years of age. He went scoreless in his first NBL game.

Jones signed a Development Player deal with the Bullets in 2021, after the team had recruited a high-scoring side roster ready to take the floor. Import Vic Law (18.8 points, 8.5 rebounds, 2.6 assists, and 1.4 blocks), led the team in scoring, and team captain Nathan Sobey (21.1 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 4.8 assists), who was shooting the ball at 46% from the field both finishing among the top five scorers in the league. A solid local frontcourt of Matthew Hodgson (10.1 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks), Harry Froling (8.0 points, 4.9 rebounds) and Tyrell Harrison (5.2 points, 5.8 rebounds) made sure the Bullets outrebounded most team’s, finishing third in offensive rebounding and second in defensive rebounds across the league.

Brisbane showcased what they ‘could be’ in a win over Illawarra (97-91) where Law (29 points and 9 rebounds) and Sobey (18 points and seven assists) piled on the points while Froling and Hodgson notched up 13 rebounds combined.

The high-scoring offence and strong rebounding still saw Brisbane (8-8) struggling to win half of their games. Orlando Johnson (6.9 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 1.8 assists) was released mid-March after posting average numbers across 15 games, a move which coincided with New Zealand releasing Lamar Patterson after a niggling knee injury and sluggish start to the season.

Patterson (14.2 points, 4.6 rebounds, 3.0 assists, and 1.5 steals) returned to Brisbane, overcame the knee injury and set the stage for the Bullets to return to the playoffs, but a knee injury to Law in the very next game would rule him out for the rest of the season.

Brisbane (10-8) had been floating in and out of the top four, and while Sobey would attempt to fill the void created by Law’s injury, the Bullets would lose five of their next seven games, giving up a average of 90 points while putting up 80 of their own. This led to the mid-season signing of BJ Johnson (10.0 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 0.9 assists) who they hoped would help stem the bleeding, which it somewhat did, resulting in a 8-10 run to end the Bullets season.

Despite flashes of brilliance, Brisbane stumbled to a sixth-place finish at the end of the season (18-18) and failed to reach the playoffs. Blake Jones appeared in 7 games, scoring a total of points.

2024/25
Adelaide’s ninth-place finish in 2023/24 led to another roster overhaul, with Mitch McCarron (to New Zealand), Trentyn Flowers (to NBA), Jacob Wiley (to Spain), Tohi Smith-Milner (to Brisbane), Kyrin Galloway (to Cairns), Trey Kell III (to Illawarra), and Akech Aliir (to Melbourne) departing. Rigoni re-signed on a two-year deal with a club option on the second season, moving onto the main roster after serving as an injury replacement during NBL24. His first appearance came in Adelaide’s 101-97 loss to Cairns on September 28.

Rigoni (1.6 points and 1 rebound across 10 games) remained a depth wing, averaging 3.8 minutes while shooting 63 percent from the field. His best game came in the loss to Cairns, where Rigoni (7 points and 1 rebound) made both field-goal attempts and both three-pointers in 8:01 minutes, with Vasiljevic (24 points and 7 rebounds) and Harrell (20 points and 5 rebounds) leading Adelaide while Edwards (31 points and 4 assists) starred for the Taipans.

Rigoni (6 points and 2 rebounds) made both three-point attempts in 5:50 minutes against New Zealand on December 14, contributing to a 111-94 victory as Davis (36 points, 5 rebounds, and 9 assists) and Harrell (21 points, 10 rebounds, and 5 assists) led Adelaide, while Jackson-Cartwright (25 points and 8 assists) was the Breakers’ best.

Adelaide finished sixth with a 13-16 record and returned to the postseason, although Rigoni did not play in either playoff game. His final appearance came in the 94-78 win over New Zealand on January 26, where he played 43 seconds.

2025/26
Adelaide entered Mike Wells’ second season after finishing sixth with a 13-15 record and reaching the Play-In Tournament, adding Blake Jones as a Nominated Replacement Player following his NBL1 North championship campaign with the Southern Districts Spartans.

Jones’ best appearance came against South East Melbourne on October 16, where he finished with 2 points and 1 rebound across 2:17 minutes as Adelaide won 88-71 behind Isaac Humphries (21 points, 10 rebounds, and 3 blocks) and Bryce Cotton (28 points and 6 assists), while Jordan Hunter (16 points and 7 rebounds) led the Phoenix.

Jones (1 point across 2 games) played only 3:47 minutes during the season and remained outside the regular rotation as Cotton (25.9 points, 3.7 rebounds, 7.6 assists, and 1.6 steals across 41 games) and Humphries (12.6 points, 5 rebounds, and 1.5 blocks across 42 games) helped Adelaide finish second with a 23-10 record.

Jones did not appear in the postseason as Adelaide defeated South East Melbourne in three semifinal games before Kendric Davis (35 points and 14 assists) led Sydney to a 113-101 overtime win in Championship Series game five, while Cotton (35 points and 9 assists) led the 36ers as the Kings claimed the series 3-2.

Blake Jones currently plays for the Adelaide 36ers and has played 9 games in his NBL career. He has averaged 1.1 points, 0.5 rebounds, and 0.1 assists since entering the league in 2021.