July 16, 2011
CANCUN, MEXICO--Former ODU basketball standout Mike Jones ('95) helped lead the USA U16 Men's Basketball squad as an assistant coach to gold earlier this week with a 104-64 victory over Argentina at the FIBA Americas U16 Championship.
As a student athlete at ODU, Jones teamed with ODU Hall of Famer Petey Sessoms ('95) to lead the Monarchs to a 21-12 record, the 1995 CAA title and a first round, 89-81 triple overtime win over No. 3 seed Villanova in Albany, NY.
Jones is currently the head basketball coach at national power DeMatha Catholic High School in Hyattesville, Md. the last nine years. A member of two previous USA Basketball coaching staffs, Jones was named to this squad on Jan. 11th.
He is serving as an assistant with head coach Don Showalter. Team USA was 5-0 in the tournament. The FIBA America U16 Championship is a qualifying tournament for the 2012 FIBA U17 world Championship. The US, Argentina and Canada will advance to next summer's U17 Worlds scheduled for June 29-July 12 in Lithuania.
In addition to his assistant coaching during the 2011-12 USA Basketball Men's Development National Team Training Camp in 2010, Jones was an assistant coach for the 2004 USA Basketball Men's Youth Development Festival East Team that finished 2-3 and collected a bronze medal.
"It is an honor to have the opportunity to work for USA Basketball and to represent our country," Jones said. "The standard has been set by our national teams for many years, and to be one of the individuals to make up the team entrusted with furthering that legacy means so much to me.It was obviously a great experience for me," Jones said. "The whole U.S. basketball is first-class. I have played basketball around the world, with and against some very good players. This could not compare to anything I have done. I have told anyone that will listen that having a gold medal around your neck while listening to the national anthem ... every athlete should experience that."
CAREER AT ODU
His college career at ODU saw Jones lead the Monarchs to two trips to the NCAA in 1992 and 1995.
He finished his career with 1,166 career points at ODU. As a senior, Jones averaged 16.5 points per game. He led the team in three-point field goal percentage (80-188) at .426 as a senior, The 80 treys is the sixth best in ODU single season history. That same year, Jones scored 31 points in a game against Tulane and William and Mary, 26 against George Mason, 25 against North Carolina and 19 in the NCAA triple overtime win over Villanova and in the second round loss to Tulsa.
Jones was named second team All-CAA and to the League All-Tournament squad in 1995, and served as co-captain. After graduation he played pro ball until 1998, in Portugal, Hong Kong, Finland and the Dominican Republic. The Largo, MD. native graduated with a degree in counseling.
AT DEMATHA - As a senior basketball player at DeMatha in 1991, Jones was the second-leading scorer on a team that went 30-0, one of two undefeated teams in school history. Jones helped DeMatha win the WCAC title, the City Title and the Alhambra Catholic Invitational Tournament before leaving for Old Dominion on a scholarship
AS CURRENT HEAD COACH AT DEMATHA- Five times (2005-07, 2009 and 2010) Jones has led the Stags to a Washington Catholic Athletic Conference (WCAC) league title, including in 2010 when the Stags finished 32-4 and secured an Abe Pollin City Title. Also during the 2009-10 season, Jones surpassed the 200-win mark with the Stags, finishing the year with 205 victories. Honored as the Washington Post All-Met Coach of the Year in 2004-05, Jones also helped DeMatha earn national recognition as the No. 2 ranked high school athletic program in the United States by Sports Illustrated in 2005 and 2007.