Minium: ODU's Jeff Jones To Be Inducted Into American University Sports Hall of Fame
Jones won 211 games at American and 560 in his career, including stops at ODU and Virginia
By Harry Minium
NORFOLK, Va. – American University had been playing Division I men’s basketball for more than four decades and had not been to an NCAA Tournament.
When Jeff Jones was named the head coach in 2000, the Eagles were coming off nine consecutive losing seasons.
Jones won several Patriot League regular-season titles early-on, but kept losing in the championship game.
Then, in 2008 and 2009, the Eagles won the Patriot League Tournament and earned their first bids to the NCAA Tournament.
American also became the first Patriot League team to beat an ACC team and the Eagles did it twice under Jones, traveling a few miles up the road to College Park, Maryland to beat Maryland and also winning at Florida State.
Those were heady days for the academically prestigious university located on an urban campus in southwest Washington, D.C. whose basketball facility, Bender Arena, seats 4,500 and resembles the old ODU Fieldhouse.
In 2014, the year after Jones left for Old Dominion University, the Eagles went back to the NCAA Tournament largely with a team built by Jones.
“We left them with a very good team,” said Kieran Donohue, who was an assistant at both American and ODU, and has known Jones since Donohue was a student assistant and Jones a coach at Virginia.
Jones left American with a 211-183 record and remains the winningest coach in American history.
Now, nearly 12 years after he left, American is paying homage to the coach who brought the school so much glory. On Saturday night he will be inducted in the American University Sports Hall of Fame.
Jones retired from coaching last February after missing most of the season following a December heart attack. Dr. Wood Selig, ODU’s director of athletics, then hired Jones as a mentor for all of the University’s 18 coaching staffs.
Those who know him won’t be surprised by his low-key response when asked about being inducted into the hall of fame.
“I thought it was very nice and I’m very grateful,” he said.
“It’s going to be awesome. It’s very nice to be recognized in that way.
“But the two things that make it really, really special to me is that most of my family will be there. Danee (his wife, Danielle Jones), my kids and grandkids will be there.”
Donahue, who stepped in as the interim head coach last season, said Jones generally tries to take the focus off himself.
“Jeff’s coaching emotions were always in full display,” Donahue said.
“But his personal emotions, he tries to keep private. It will be interesting to see how emotional he becomes.”
ODU fans surely remember the 2018-19 season, when the Monarchs won the Conference USA title in Frisco, Texas. Jones tried to hide his emotions, but with TV cameras focused on him, he buried his head into a towel and cried.
Donohue said he saw the same emotion in Jones in 2008 when the Eagles won their first Patriot League Tournament.
“When the game was over, he looked at me and asked me to find his daughter, Meg,” Donahue said. “He stood hugging his daughter and crying as the glitter came down.
“Jeff has always tried to make things about the team, not about himself. He always preferred the focus be on his players.
“I hope behind closed doors that he can smile and really appreciate this, not only for the 13 years he was at American, but for all of his 40-plus years of coaching.”
ODU Women's Head Basketball Coach DeLisha Milton-Jones said she’s come to appreciate Jones’ intellect and kind heart since he began working with coaches.
“He’s a guy who’s always there when you need him,” she said “He’s always sending text messages of encouragement or congratulations. When we lose, he tells us to hang in there.
“It’s nice when you have an individual like Jeff Jones, who is a legendary coach, on your side.
“I’m so happy for Jeff and I know that he will have Kieran in his speech. They are so close.”
Donohue, who is a special assistant to Selig, and also works for the Old Dominion Athletic Foundation, has made more than 100 calls to former American players, managers and alums to remind them of Jones’ induction.
“I owe so much to Jeff,” Donahue said. “He helped give me my start.
“He had an awesome 13 years at American. I’m so happy that he’s receiving this honor. He clearly deserves it.”
Minium is ODU’s senior executive writer. Contact him at hminium@odu.edu or follow him on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram