Jeffrey Allen Jones (born June 29, 1960) is an American

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

coach and currently the head coach of the Old Dominion University basketball team. Jones took the helm of Old Dominion basketball on April 3, 2013. He previously served as head coach of the American Eagles and the

Virginia Cavaliers The Virginia Cavaliers, also known as ''Wahoos'' or ''Hoos'', are the athletic teams representing the University of Virginia, located in Charlottesville. The Cavaliers compete at the NCAA Division I level ( FBS for football), in the Atlantic C ...

Playing career

High school

Jones graduated from Apollo High School in

Owensboro, Kentucky Owensboro is a home rule-class city in and the county seat of Daviess County, Kentucky, United States. It is the fourth-largest city in the state by population. Owensboro is located on U.S. Route 60 and Interstate 165 about southwest of Lou ...

. He was inducted into the Apollo High School Hall of Fame. His father,

Bob Bob, BOB, or B.O.B. may refer to: Places * Mount Bob, New York, United States *Bob Island, Palmer Archipelago, Antarctica People, fictional characters, and named animals *Bob (given name), a list of people and fictional characters *Bob (surname ...

, is a former coach of

Kentucky Wesleyan Kentucky Wesleyan College (KWC) is a private Methodist college in Owensboro, Kentucky. The college is known for its liberal arts programs. Fall 2018 enrollment was 830 students. History Kentucky Wesleyan College was founded in 1858 by the Kent ...

, which he led to the 1973 NCAA College Division title.

College

He played

point guard The point guard (PG), also called the one or the point, is one of the five Basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position. Point guards are expected to run t ...

at the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United S ...

from 1978 to 1982. As a four-year starter at Virginia, Jones was known as a leader and prolific passer. During his playing career, the Cavaliers compiled an overall record of 102-28 (), while he led the Cavaliers to two NCAA Tournaments and two NITs during his career. Virginia captured the 1980 NIT title, and advanced to the NCAA Final Four in 1981. Jones finished his career as Virginia's all-time assists leader (598), and his 200 assists during the 1979–80 season was UVa's single-season record until both marks were later broken by

John Crotty John Kevin Crotty (born July 15, 1969) is an American former professional basketball player. A 6'1" point guard from the University of Virginia, Crotty was undrafted, but played in 11 National Basketball Association (NBA) seasons from 1992 to 2003 ...

. Jones served as the team captain as a senior during the 1981–82 season and played in 129 games during his career. For his career, he averaged 6.6 points and 4.6 assists per game, while shooting 52.2 percent from the field and 74.3% from the free-throw line. Despite being drafted by the NBA's

Indiana Pacers The Indiana Pacers are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis. The Pacers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The Pacers were first esta ...

in 1982, Jones never played as a professional. He graduated from Virginia in the same year with a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

degree in

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Coaching career

University of Virginia

After graduation he spent eight seasons as an assistant coach under

Terry Holland Michael Terrence Holland (born April 2, 1942) is an American college athletics administrator and former basketball player and coach. He is currently the emeritus director of athletics and special assistant to Chancellor Steve Ballard at East Carol ...

at Virginia until tabbed the 8th head coach in

history in 1990. He would go on to lead that program for eight seasons. He led Virginia to six postseason appearances (five

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

, one NIT), a share of the 1995 ACC regular-season title and four 20-win campaigns. He beat Roy Williams and #1 seeded Kansas in Kansas City to reach the Elite 8 in 1995. Jones' tenure in Charlottesville crested at that point; he only had one winning season in his final three years. He resigned at the end of the 1997-98 season, having spent the first 20 years of his adult life at UVa as either a player, assistant coach, or head coach.

American University

Following a brief stint as associate head coach at

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the List of U.S. states by area, smallest U.S. state by area and the List of states and territories of the United States ...

, Jones was hired as the head coach at

American University The American University (AU or American) is a private federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C. Its main campus spans 90 acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, mostly in the Spring Valley neighborhood of Northwest D.C. AU was charte ...

in 2000. After the school moved from the

Colonial Athletic Association The Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I whose full members are located in East Coast states from Massachusetts to South Carolina. Most of its members are public universi ...

, he guided

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to the 2002, 2004, 2008 and 2009

Patriot League The Patriot League is a collegiate athletic conference comprising private institutions of higher education and two United States service academies based in the Northeastern United States. Outside the Ivy League, it is among the most selective gr ...

regular season championships, and in 2002 he was honored as the Basketball America Patriot League

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. However, the team fell in the conference tournament title game each year from 2002 to 2004, failing to garner an NCAA tournament bid. On December 22, 2007, Jones led AU to its first victory over the

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of M ...

in the last 80 years. Jones previously coached AU to victory over

Florida State University Florida State University (FSU) is a public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher education in the st ...

, making him the only Patriot League coach to beat an ACC team. On March 14, 2008, Jones led AU to its first NCAA tournament, as the Eagles beat Colgate 52–46. On March 22, 2008, Jones and the American University faced the

Tennessee Volunteers The Tennessee Volunteers and Lady Volunteers are the 20 male and female varsity college athletics, intercollegiate athletics programs that represent the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee. The Volunteers compete in NCAA Division I, ...

at BJCC Arena in Birmingham, AL. Despite leading early on, American lost to Tennessee 72-57, ending American's NCAA trip. The next year, Jones led the Eagles into the

2009 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament The 2009 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament was a single-elimination tournament in which 65 schools competed to determine the national champion of the men's NCAA Division I college basketball as a culmination of the 2008–09 basketball ...

on March 19, 2009. After holding a 14-point lead over Villanova early in the second half, the 14th-seeded Eagles let the game slip away at the end, falling to Villanova at the

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. Despite being a #2 seed in the 2011 Patriot League tournament, American was upset in the semifinal round, getting knocked off by

Lafayette College Lafayette College is a private liberal arts college in Easton, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1826 by James Madison Porter and other citizens in Easton, the college first held classes in 1832. The founders voted to name the college after General Laf ...

in double overtime, 73-71.

Old Dominion University

On April 3, 2013, Jones was hired as the new head coach at Old Dominion University.

Head coaching record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Jeff 1960 births Living people American Eagles men's basketball coaches American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from Kentucky Basketball players from Kentucky College men's basketball head coaches in the United States Indiana Pacers draft picks Old Dominion Monarchs men's basketball coaches Sportspeople from Owensboro, Kentucky Point guards Rhode Island Rams men's basketball coaches Virginia Cavaliers men's basketball coaches Virginia Cavaliers men's basketball players