Live: ODU announces hire of Mike Jones
NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — ODU is hiring a familiar face to take over their men’s basketball program.
Current Maryland assistant and former Monarchs star Mike Jones will be the team’s next head coach, per sources with knowledge of the hire. ODU is set to announce the hire in a press conference on Friday at 10:45 a.m.
Jones played for Old Dominion from the 1991-92 season through 1994-95, and led the Monarchs to NCAA Tournament appearances in 1992 and 1995.
He coached at prep powerhouse DeMatha in Maryland for 19 seasons before moving to the collegiate level in 2021 as an associate head coach at Virginia Tech. He was named assistant coach at Maryland in 2023.
The news of Jones’ hire comes just days after ODU coach Jeff Jones announced he was retiring from coaching.
Mike Jones will try to turn around a program that’s fallen on hard times since making the NCAA Tournament in 2019. The Monarchs have just two winning seasons since then, and have gone 7-23 overall this season with one game remaining in the regular season.
However, the program has been a consistent winner in the past. And fan support remains high, with ODU still at the top of the conference this season for attendance with just under 6,000 fans per game (Chartway Arena seats about 8,500).
They also have their top high school recruiting class in history coming in next season (originally ranked in the top 30, and now top 45), players that Jones will more than likely be hoping to retain.
Look for more coverage on the hire from WAVY’s Sportswrap team.
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