Simone Jelks

Simone Jelks has officiated 40 regular-season games in two seasons as an NBA staff official.

Jelks officiated three seasons in the NBA G League. She also has three years of collegiate officiating experience, with stints in the Mid-American Conference and Horizon League. 

An Ohio native, Jelks played college basketball at the University of Southern California, where she was named to the 2007-08 Pac-12 All-Defensive Team. After college, she played professionally in Puerto Rico and Croatia.

Jelks is the career leader in points, steals, rebounds and free throws made for Charles F. Brush High School in Lyndhurst, Ohio. She was named to the school’s Athletic Hall of Fame in 2015. 

Jelks earned a master’s degree in Public Health at Case Western Reserve University and a master’s degree in Urban Secondary Teaching from Cleveland State University. She worked as a high school Spanish teacher in Cleveland for six years.