ODU’s Jones, ‘grateful’ for his 32-year run, retires

Jeff Borzello, ESPN Staff WriterFeb 26, 2024, 10:31 AM ET

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• Basketball recruiting expert.
• Signed up with ESPN in 2014.
• Graduate of University of Delaware.Old Dominion coach Jeff Jones is

retiring, the school announced Monday.The school revealed in January that Jones was stepping away for the remainder of the season due to health issues. He suffered a cardiovascular disease throughout the team’s journey to Honolulu for the Diamond Head Classic a few days before Christmas and then started treatment for prostate cancer for the fourth time.At a psychological interview later Monday, the 63-year-old Jones fought back tears as he talked about

his retirement in front of family, good friends, employee and existing and former players.”I knew eventually it would happen, “stated Jones, who spoke for roughly 40 minutes.

“Dec. 20 kind of changed stuff. It gave me a chance to think of how grateful I am and what actually matters. I’ve been so lucky. Forty-one years. That’s a very long time. But the number of people I have actually been related to over those years is simply amazing. … I seem like I’m a really fortunate individual.” Jones has actually been at Old Dominion considering that 2013, leading the Monarchs to the NCAA tournament in 2019 after winning both the

Conference USA routine season and conference tournament championships.He invested 13 seasons as the head coach at American before heading to ODU. During his time with the Eagles, Jones went to 2 NCAA tournaments and won four Patriot League regular-season titles.Jones started his training career at Virginia, where he played his college ball from 1978 to ’82. He was an assistant for the Cavaliers for 8 seasons after graduating, and after that replaced Terry Holland in 1990. He won an ACC regular-season championship in 1995 and assisted Virginia to 5 NCAA competition appearances. The Cavaliers made an Elite Eight run in 1995 and won the NIT in 1992. He completes his 32-year head training profession with a record of 560-418. Jones stated his health has enhanced and he’s eating much better than ever. “I ought to take stock in a salad company, “he joked, including that being away from the game has actually reduced his tension level.Jones stated he considered returning and coaching one more year to end

on a various note, but he didn’t wish to be disingenuous toward players and the group.”There’s a lot of things to eagerly anticipate, and I did want to prioritize my household, my health and happiness,” he stated. “I think being happy is actually, actually, truly underrated.” Details from The Associated Press was used in this report.