Former DeMatha Basketball coach Mike Jones hired as Head Coach of Old Dominion

odusports.com

When you think of DMV basketball and who has been the most prominent figure of DMV basketball the past 20 years, you think of Mike Jones, DeMatha class of 1991.

Jones began his career at DeMatha Catholic High School where he served as an assistant coach for three seasons under legendary coach Morgan Wootten. Jones, coming off of a prominent playing career at Old Dominion where he was named to two all-conference teams, helped his former coach secure two WCAC titles in his three years on Wootten’s staff. After the 2001-02 season, Wootten retired as basketball coach at DeMatha and handed the reins to Jones. This would be the turning point in Mike Jones’ legendary coaching career.

Jones picked right up where Wootten left off and continued the powerhouse legacy of DeMatha basketball. In his 19 seasons at DeMatha, Jones led DeMatha to nine WCAC regular-season titles, eight WCAC tournament titles, and the 2006 high-school basketball national championship. In addition to being the head coach of DeMatha, Jones worked in many USA basketball youth camps and was on staff for various teams from 2002-2021. During his time on Madison Street, he compiled an overall record of 511-119, becoming the second-most winning coach in school history.

On May 17, 2021, Jones was hired by Virginia Tech’s Mike Young to become Associate Head Coach for the Hokies. Expectations going into the 2021-2022 season for Virginia Tech were high. They had just come off of a season where they made the NCAA tournament and now they were greeted with the news of adding the best coach in the DMV as Associate Head Coach. Third-year coach Mike Young had managed to maintain two of his star players, Keve Aluma and Storm Murphy. However, no one expected the monumental run the Hokies would go on.

After an expected season of going 11-9 in conference, Virginia Tech turned its heads to the ACC tournament in hopes of solidifying an NCAA tournament bid with one or two wins in the conference tournament. After a thrilling first-round overtime win over Clemson, Virginia Tech made quick work of their next two opponents: Notre Dame and North Carolina. Virginia Tech’s dominating upset over #25 North Carolina sent them to their first ACC tournament championship game appearance. The Hokies throttled eventual Final Four team Duke 82-67 in the championship. In Mike Jones’ first season with Virginia Tech, he was an instrumental part in winning the program’s first ACC title ever. Jones remained with Virginia Tech for an additional season before leaving to become Assistant Coach at the University of Maryland.

On April 3, 2023, it became official that Mike Jones would leave Virginia Tech to join Maryland for the 2023-24 season. With this move, Jones reunited with his former player and ex-DeMatha star, Jahmir Young.  Young has exploded in his final year with Maryland, averaging a nation-best 31 ppg against Q1 opponents. Jones would also be pivotal in establishing tight relationships with local DMV talent in the 2025 recruiting class. As well as creating relationships with 2025 recruits, Jones was a big part of 5-star center Derik Queen’s historic commitment to Maryland.

After the retirement of longtime head coach Jeff Jones, Mike Jones was hired by his alma mater Old Dominion to become the 14th head coach in program history. Another DeMatha connection that surrounded the Maryland basketball program was DeMatha class of 2021 graduate and current head student manager Callum Wainwright. After being asked about his thoughts on Jones’ hiring at Old Dominion, Wainwright said, “I’m very happy for Coach Jones. When he was coaching at DeMatha and Maryland he was nothing but a great coach to be around. He was very uplifting and filled with possibility and I think he will do a great job at Old Dominion.”

Jones became just the 2nd alumnus coach in Old Dominion men’s basketball history. He is tasked with a pivotal role of rebuilding the Monarchs’ basketball program and many believe he is the right man for the job. Only time will tell how Coach Jones will do in his first college head coaching job.