Joseph Fernal Jones (born November 9, 1965) is the head coach of

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...

's men's basketball team. He previously served as the head coach at

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

and has worked as an assistant coach at

Hofstra University Hofstra University is a Private university, private research university in Hempstead, New York, United States. It originated in 1935 as an extension of New York University and became an independent college in 1939. Comprising ten schools, includ ...

Villanova University Villanova University is a Private university, private Catholic Church, Catholic research university in Villanova, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded by the Order of Saint Augustine in 1842 and named after Thomas of Villanova, Saint Thom ...

, and

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private university, private Catholic Jesuits, Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1863 by the Society of Jesus, a Catholic Religious order (Catholic), religious order, t ...

.Joe Jones Accepts Associate Head Coaching Position at Boston College
gocolumbialions.com

Early life and playing career

Jones was born in

Ronkonkoma, New York Ronkonkoma ( ) is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) located within the Town of Islip, in Suffolk County, New York, United States. The population was 18,955 at the time of the 2020 census. The Ronkonkoma post office has the ZIP Code 1 ...

in 1965 and graduated from Half Hollow Hills West High School in

Dix Hills, New York Dix Hills is a Hamlet (New York), hamlet and census-designated place (CDP), in the Huntington, New York, Town of Huntington, on Long Island, New York (state), New York, United States. The population was 26,180 at the time of the 2020 census. Hi ...

in 1983. He was a four-year letter-winner at

SUNY Oswego State University of New York at Oswego (SUNY Oswego or Oswego State) is a public university in Oswego, New York. It has a total student population of 6,756 and the campus size is 700 acres. SUNY Oswego offers more than 120 undergraduate, graduate ...

, where he earned a bachelor's degree in communications in 1987 and a master's degree in counseling in 1989. He played point guard for the Lakers and currently ranks 4th in assists and 5th in steals in the school's history.

Coaching career

Jones began his coaching career serving as a guidance counselor and coach of the middle school boys basketball team at Comsewogue on

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

. He would eventually take over as the head coach of the high school team for two years from 1993 to 1994. He joined Jay Wright's staff at

in 1994 and moved on to

three years later as an assistant to

Steve Lappas Stephan Thomas Lappas (born March 18, 1954) is an American former college basketball coach. He coached at Manhattan (1988–1992), Villanova (1992–2001) and UMass (2001–2005), compiling a 280–237 (.542) record over a 17-year coaching ca ...

. When Wright replaced Lappas at Villanova in 2001, Jones remained on the staff as the assistant responsible for recruiting, game scouting and on-court teaching.

Columbia University

Jones succeeded

Armond Hill Armond G. Hill (born March 31, 1953) is an American professional basketball coach and former player. He spent eight seasons in the NBA between 1976 and 1984, playing for the Atlanta Hawks, Seattle SuperSonics, San Diego Clippers and Milwaukee ...

as the head coach at

after the 2002–03 season, when Columbia finished 0–14 in the

Ivy League The Ivy League is an American collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference of eight Private university, private Research university, research universities in the Northeastern United States. It participates in the National Collegia ...

, 2–25 overall. In his first season, the

Lions The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large cat of the genus ''Panthera'', native to Sub-Saharan Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; a short, rounded head; round ears; and a dark, hairy tuft at the tip of its tail. It is se ...

finished 6–8 in the league, 10–17 overall – the third-best single-season improvement in conference history. In 2006–07, Jones led the Lions to a 7–7 Ivy League finish, their first .500 record since 1999–2000. Their 16–12 overall record was the team's best since 1992–93. Jones left Columbia with an 86–108 win–loss record over seven seasons.

Boston University

After leaving Columbia, Jones would serve as the associate head coach at

for one season before accepting the head coaching job at

. Prior to his second season as head coach at BU, it was announced that BU would be leaving the

America East Conference The America East Conference (AmEast) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference affiliated with NCAA Division I whose members are located in the Northeastern United States. The conference is headquartered in Boston, Massachu ...

to join the

Patriot League The Patriot League is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference comprising primarily leading Private university, private institutions of higher education and two United States service academies based in the Northeastern United ...

on July 1, 2013. As a result of the move, the America East presidents unanimously voted to ban BU from postseason play in all America East sports for the 2012–2013 season. Despite their inability to win the conference championship and earn an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, Jones took the Terriers to his first-ever postseason as head coach when they played

Loyola University Maryland Loyola University Maryland is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit university in Baltimore, Maryland. Established as Loyola College in Maryland by John Early (educator), John Early and eight other members of the Society of Je ...

in the first round of the CIT. In 2020, his 16th year as a head coach, Jones won his first conference tournament title when

defeated Colgate in the championship game of the Patriot League tournament. The victory earned him what would have been his first NCAA tournament appearance as a head coach, but the 2020 tournament was subsequently cancelled in the wake of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. Jones was named a finalist for the 2019–20

Ben Jobe Award The Ben Jobe National Coach of the Year Award is an award given annually to the most outstanding minority men's college basketball head coach in NCAA Division I competition. The award was established in 2010 and is named for head coach Ben Jobe, wh ...

Personal life

Jones' brother

James James may refer to: People * James (given name) * James (surname) * James (musician), aka Faruq Mahfuz Anam James, (born 1964), Bollywood musician * James, brother of Jesus * King James (disambiguation), various kings named James * Prince Ja ...

is the head men's basketball coach at

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

. Jones provided commentary for the online halftime show during the

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

and

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

NCAA tournaments.

Head coaching record

References

External links

*
Boston University profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Joe 1965 births Living people African-American basketball coaches American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from New York (state) Basketball players from New York (state) Boston College Eagles men's basketball coaches Boston University Terriers men's basketball coaches College men's basketball head coaches in the United States Columbia Lions men's basketball coaches High school basketball coaches in the United States Hofstra Pride men's basketball coaches Oswego Lakers men's basketball players Sportspeople from Huntington, New York People from Ronkonkoma, New York Sportspeople from Islip (town), New York Point guards Villanova Wildcats men's basketball coaches 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen