Bruce Pearl and his staff have received a lot of credit for the miraculous job they have done with this year’s Tennessee basketball team. One person partially responsible for that success is Tony Jones.
Jones is the Associate Head coach at Tennessee and his responsibilities include recruiting and scheduling, among other things. He has been a college coach for twelve seasons.
Tony Jones Background
Tony started his coaching career at Detroit Southwestern High School in 1986 where he was an all-city star as a player. He was both the assistant varsity coach and the junior varsity coach until 1991. There he coached future NBA players Jalen Rose (Indiana Pacers), Howard Eisley (Utah Jazz), and Voshon Lenard (Miami Heat). His 1991 team won the mythical USA Today national title.
From 1991 until 1993 Jones coached Team AAU Michigan. During his tenure as coach, his teams administered a 35-1 record and won two AAU state championships.
In 1993 Jones broke into the collegiate ranks at Buffalo. Three years later he moved on to Toledo. From 1996 until 2001 he helped build that program into one of the top mid-major programs in the country. That’s when Bruce Pearl took notice.
Pearl and Jones coached together at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee from 2001 until 2005. They took two teams to the NCAA tournament with their last team in 2005 making it to the Sweet 16. That team boasted victories over powers Boston College and the Alabama Crimson Tide.
At UWM Tony was solely responsible for recruiting many of their top players. He also was very instrumental in coordinating their schedule. He was able to schedule games with teams like Kansas, Wisconsin, Purdue, and St. Louis.
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On a lighter note, Tony has received other accolades in the coaching profession that won’t show up on a box score. In 2004 he beat out Kerry Keating of UCLA in the finals to be named the best dressed assistant coach by collegeinsider.com. Jones supposedly clinched the win by flashing his Rolex watch. It wasn’t the first time these two assistants squared off in battle. They had tied for the honor the year before. Tony is always gracious in victory. “Kerry Keating was the toughest competitor I have faced in three trips to the Fashionable Four,” Jones said. “Last season I couldn’t shake him and this year it came down to a tough call by Angela. I am happy to have won but I know that Kerry and I will meet again on the runway.”
Tidbits
-His brother Bill is a former member of the New Jersey Nets.
-An avid reader who enjoys golfing, Jones dreams of writing a book on motivation
What They Are Saying about Tony Jones
“Tony has a tremendous knowledge of the game of basketball, a knowledge that will make him an excellent head coach in the future. I know that I would not be in the NBA was it not for Tony.”
– Howard Eisley, Utah Jazz
“Unquestionably, Tony is one of the up and coming stars of this business. He has an uncanny ability to relate to today’s student-athletes and combine that with a tremendous knowledge of the sport. Those two ingredients add up to nothing but success in this business.”
– Jim O’Brien, Ohio State head coach
“Tony is one of the brightest young coaches in the game today. He has a sincere interest in having young people become better than who they are.”
– George Raveling, former Iowa and USC head coach