ODU reaches into its past, hires former Monarch Mike Jones as basketball coach

Updated Mar. 1, 2024 12:37 p.m. ET

Associated Press

NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — Old Dominion has hired former Monarchs player and Maryland assistant coach Mike Jones as its men's basketball coach, athletic director Wood Selig announced.

Jones, who played for Old Dominion from 1991-95, replaces Jeff Jones, who retired this week amid health concerns after 11 seasons. Mike Jones is just the second alumnus hired to coach the team, joining Oliver Purnell.

During his playing career at ODU, Mike Jones was a part of two Coastal Athletic Association tournament championship teams. He scored 19 points in one of the greatest wins in ODU history, a triple overtime triumph against No. 3 seed Villanova in the first round of the 1995 NCAA Tournament.

“It was imperative that our new head coach check all the essential boxes including ability to recruit both high school and transfer student-athletes, player development, coaching acumen, style of play, community engagement, impeccable character and a proven history of success. Mike Jones checks all those boxes,” Selig said at a press conference announcing the hire. “In Mike Jones, ODU has a leader who has seen success at the highest level and knows what it takes to sustain competitive excellence. The fact that he is one of us is icing on the cake.”

“I could not be more excited. This is an opportunity of a lifetime," Jones said. "ODU is home to me and we are ready to work to build the program back into something that Norfolk and the entire Hampton Roads community will be proud of.”

Jones spent 19 years as the head coach at DeMatha High School in Maryland before becoming the associate head coach at Virginia Tech in 2021. His two seasons in Blacksburg included the Hokies' first Atlantic Coast Conference tournament championship. He moved to Maryland this season.

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