Maryland men’s basketball assistant coach Mike Jones will leave College Park for his first Division I head coaching role at his alma mater Old Dominion, a Maryland spokesperson confirmed to The Diamondback. The Virginian-Pilot first reported the news Thursday.
Old Dominion will announce Jones as its new head coach at a press conference on Friday.
Jones’ departure comes less than a year after Maryland assistant Tony Skinn left for his alma mater George Mason and Grant Billmeier departed to take his first Division I head coaching job at NJIT.
Kevin Willard will once again have a spot to fill on his assistant coaching staff alongside David Cox, who Willard hired after he joined the Terps in 2022, and Greg Manning Jr., who was promoted from director of operations last year.
Jones, a Largo native, was head coach at DeMatha for 19 years and held a record of 511-119. He won a national title with the Stags in 2006 and earned nine Washington Catholic Athletic Conference regular season titles, eight WCAC tournament crowns and four Maryland Private School tournament championships.
[Kevin Willard’s trust in his assistants has them flourishing and his coaching tree growing]
Willard seemed to address a local recruiting hole left by Skinn by bringing in Jones, but the head coach will have to add an assistant coach for the third time in less than two years since joining the Terps.
Jones spent two years as an associate head coach at Virginia Tech before joining Maryland in April 2023 and previously served in a variety of youth coaching roles with USA Basketball. He was named a co-recipient of the USA Basketball Developmental coach of the year award in 2019.
Jones played at DeMatha in the 1980s and for Old Dominion from 1991 to 1995. He also played professionally in the CBA, as well as internationally in Portugal, Hong Kong, Finland and the Dominican Republic. At his alma mater, he’ll take over for Jeff Jones, who retired earlier this week.
