NORFOLK, Va. – Jeff Jones and I were making small talk a few years ago when the subject turned to retirement. I told him I planned to travel and perhaps live overseas for a while.
Jones gave me a curious look and said, "Honestly, I don't have a clue as to what I would do. I don't ever think about retirement."
Perhaps that's because basketball has been his life.
Kieran Donohue, Old Dominion's interim men's basketball coach, said it best after ODU's final home game last weekend.
"The team has always come first with Jeff," Donohue said. "The players always came first.
"Everything else in his life got pushed back."
And that explains why it took a ton of courage for Jones to finally make the decision, at the relatively young age of 63, to retire as ODU's head coach.
Jones made the announcement at noon Monday in the Carol Hudson Media Room in Chartway Arena, which was packed to overflowing with media, players coaches and tons of ODU officials, including President Brian O. Hemphill, PhD., and head football coach Ricky Rahne.
Jones spent nearly an hour speaking and taking questions. He choked up with emotion several times, most notably when talking about his wife, Danielle (nicknamed Danee) Decker Jones.
It was Danee who took care of Jones when he was diagnosed with prostate cancer. She did exhaustive research on where he would receive the best care and was by his side for every test and every treatment.
She was so nervous that she paced the hallways at Chartway Arena. I never saw her sit down. I'll never forget when the emotion they shared when they hugged each other after ODU won the 2019 Conference USA championship.
"I want to publicly thank someone," Jones said, and then was silent as tears rolled down his cheeks.
"I want to publicly thank Danee for being my person. A coaches' wife is really a tough job.
Kieran Donohue and Danielle Decker Jones watch Jeff Jones announce his retirement
"I couldn't have done it without you."
Jones has coached for 41 years, including 32 as a head coach. He was just 29 when Virginia hired him as its head coach in 1990. Since then, he's won 560 games, took UVA to the Elite Eight, went to the NCAA Tournament eight times, won a National Invitation Tournament and took ODU to the NIT semifinals.
He is the nation's 19th winningest active coach and is tied for 91st among all-time coaches.
He was 203-131 in 11 seasons at ODU, and Dr. Wood Selig, ODU's director of athletics, said it was it up to Jones to decide whether to return or not.
Jones had a heart attack on Dec. 20 in Hawaii, just before ODU began play in a tournament, and while his recovery has been remarkable, the heart attack was perhaps a sign that it's time to slow down.
Asked when she knew it was time for her husband to retire, Danee replied: "December 20th. I knew then that this day had to come.
"I'm very proud of him for making this decision because I know how hard it was for him.
"He's at peace with his decision. It will be hard for him not to coach. He will miss being part of a team, so we'll just have to fill that void with things that are equally rewarding for him."
Tests prior to his heart attack indicated that he needed to resume medical treatment for his cancer. But then a funny thing happened. His prostate-specific antigen (PSA) scored dropped to a level where treatment won't be needed immediately.
"The doctor was absolutely amazed," Danee said. She believes it's the absence of the enormous stress that comes from coaching that likely caused his PSA to drop.
Jones struggled with his decision right up until last week.
Cornel Parker, the Bryant & Stratton head women's basketball coach and Norfolk native who played for Jones at UVA, said he had lunch with Jones a month ago and at the time, Jones intended to return to coaching.
"When he called me yesterday to tell me he was retiring, I was surprised," Parker said.
Dr. Selig said that Jones "has been on a roller coaster for the last several weeks. He told me recently that 70 percent of him wants to return, that this is my whole life and coaching is what I need to be doing.
"But then he added that 30 percent of him says he can't do this anymore, not at this level. He said, 'If I can't have 100 percent of me behind this, there's no way I can do this job successfully."'
Jones said he thought of returning for just one more season. "I wanted to right the ship, to get the program back to winning," he said. But in the end, Selig said: "He decided that health, happiness and his family mean more than anything in the world."
Dr. Hemphill was among many who said Jones has more than earned the chance to retire.
"Coach Jones has a distinguished record and proven success throughout his many years as a dedicated coach, caring mentor and true professional," he said. "His lasting impact on and off the court has defined his meaningful connections to our campus.
"Without question, he has earned this well-deserved retirement and special opportunity to spend more time with his beloved family.
"Monarch Nation will forever be indebted to coach Jones for his service, spirit and strength."
That Jones would go into coaching was evident at an early age. He grew up watching his father coach Kentucky Wesleyan in basketball-crazy Owensboro, Kentucky.
Jones was a 14-year old freshman at Apollo High School when, after leading the junior varsity team to a victory, he was told to suit up for the varsity, which he also led to victory.
But it was at halftime of the varsity game when Jones showed his true basketball prowess. Coach Wayne Chapman was struggling to get the gist of a new play he had diagrammed on the chalk board across to his players.
Jones nervously stood up and volunteered to go to the chalk board. It took him mere seconds to get his teammates to understand what Chapman wanted.
Dr. Wood Selig, ODU's director of athletics, smiles as Jones tells a joke at his retirement announcement
"I never knew anyone," said his late father, Bob Jones, "who could analyze what's going on in a game better than Jeff."
Jones was a hard-nosed, hard-working, unselfish point guard who started four years at Virginia with a talented cast that included Ralph Sampson. He helped UVA win an NIT and advance to a Final Four. He held the state and UVA records for assists, which were later broken by John Crotty, a point guard he recruited and coached.
He served as Terry Holland's assistant coach for eight years before Holland, who was UVA's athletic director, hired him as head coach.
He led UVA to the postseason in six out of eight years but was let go in 1998.
He spent 13 years at American University, where he won four Patriot League regular-season titles and took the Eagles to postseason play three times.
Jones usually had ODU in the first division of Conference USA and the Sun Belt, but the Monarchs were struggling when he had his heart attack – they were 3-6 and had lost three in a row. The Monarchs are now 7-22.
It was an emotional day for ODU's Jeff Jones.
Jones said that Donohue and the ODU staff has done their level best since Jones stepped aside for the season.
"They were dealt an unusual and not ideal hand," Jones said. "It hasn't been easy for the staff or the players.
"But these guys have done a great job. In athletics, it's a competition, so you keep score, and the score hasn't always been on our side. But I think there are alternative ways of looking at things and I look at how they have poured themselves into this team for this university since I've been away.
"I think the job they have done is remarkable."
Selig said that ODU will hire Collegiate Associates, a firm that often helps colleges and universities in coaching searches, later this week. Collegiate Associates will then begin reaching out to coaches to gauge their interest while also providing ODU with their coaching contracts.
"Hiring a search firm allows you to shave weeks off the process," Selig said. "And there's so much value in that."
Jones apologized to the ODU players and coaches for the timing of his announcement, which he said, "was hardly ideal."
The Monarchs play at Appalachian State on Wednesday and Georgia Southern on Friday before heading to Pensacola, Florida for the Sun Belt Conference tournament. Generally, coaching changes aren't announced until after the season.
But Jones said after he made the decision, he felt it would have been dishonest not to acknowledge it publicly. Selig said that Jones "did ODU a favor."
"He could have said, 'Let me see how I feel at the end of the season or the Final Four and then I'll figure it out,"' Selig said. "But he hurried his decision along so that we could get out in front of things.
"We want to have a new coach hired by mid March, when the transfer portal opens."
ODU must re-recruit its current players and high school signees as well as recruit players from other schools. The new coach will have to hit the ground running.
Jones said that ODU has much to offer, including the best arena and best fans in the Sun Belt. ODU averaged, 5,761 fans, which with a week to go, leads the Sun Belt.
"It's not real complicated," Jones said. "Think about a mid-major struggling the way we are this year and leading the conference . It's not like there are a lot of little schools in our league.
"For us to be there I think says a lot about our fans, about their commitment, their love for the program, but probably moreso, the love they have for the institution."
ODU President Brian O. Hemphill, PhD., listens to Jeff Jones.
Murray Pitts, a Charlottesville businessman who serves on the ODU Board of Visitors, said he is glad that it's not Jones who will roll up his sleeves and rebuild Monarch basketball.
"This was a very difficult decision for him, but it's the right thing to do for him and his family," Pitts said. "He loves his kids. That shows in the relationships he has with his ex-players at UVA and American. It's a tight-knit group and they all rally around Jeff.
"I'm really happy for him. He won't be on the road chasing down kids. He will be with his family, especially with his grandkids."
Jones said he still doesn't have a clue as to what he will do in retirement. "I'll do something, but I'm not really interested in anything with a lot of pressure," he said.
"I don't really have a bucket list. I'm so boring. I don't have any hobbies, unless you call reading and walking hobbies. And you can only read and walk so many hours of the day."
Jones has a well-deserved reputation for being kind and caring. He sends birthday cards to many on the ODU athletic staff and is involved in charity work. He often reaches out to athletes from other sports who are struggling. He loves handing out Christmas gifts to staff members.
He and the team have been active in Samaritan's Feet, which provides shoes for needy people all over the world. He's been one of the leaders in the Coaches vs. Cancer effort and went overseas several times to war zones with the Troops First initiative.
"I want to do something that will impact people in a positive way," he said. "Is there some kind of role in something like that? I don't know. But that will be the next step. I haven't looked too far ahead."
Dennis Ellmer said he believes Jones has the generous heart necessary to help others. Ellmer, the former CEO of Priority Automotive, has raised millions of dollars for children's causes through the Priority Automotive Charity Bowl.
Ellmer said he got a call from Jones five or six years ago.
"He said he wanted to help, that he wanted to donate to the Charity Bowl," said Ellmer, who serves on the ODU Board of Visitors.
"I hadn't asked him to donate. This is a football event. I would never ask him.
"But he gave us a check for $5,000 and he's done the same every year since.
"Jeff is a great man, a great coach and even a better human being. I hope he has a great retirement, that he spends time with family and enjoy life.
"He certainly has earned it."
As the press conference ended, Jones had one more surprise. He pulled a had from underneath the table in front of him and placed it on his head. It said, "Pop," across the front, the name his grandchildren call him by.
"I'm no longer a basketball coach," he said. "From now on, call me Pop."
Minium is ODU's Senior Executive Writer for Athletics. Contact him at hminium@odu.edu or follow him on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram
Minium: It Was An Emotional Farewell for ODU Basketball Coach Jeff Jones, who had Special Praise for his Wife
