Jones will become the fourth Maryland staffer to leave for a head coaching job in the last two seasons.
Maryland men’s basketball assistant coach Mike Jones will leave to become the next head coach at Old Dominion, his alma mater, a source confirmed to Testudo Times.
David Hall of the Virginian-Pilot was the first to report the news.
Jones will become the fourth Maryland staffer in Kevin Willard’s tenure — only in its second season — to leave for a head coaching job. After last season, Grant Billmeier took over at NJIT, Tony Skinn went to George Mason and director of player personnel Tevon Saddler left for Nicholls State.
“We’re ecstatic for [Jones]. It’s a great opportunity for him, back to his alma mater,” Willard said. “It’s been a crazy eight months, I’ve had four assistants hired in that in that timeframe… he’s gonna do a fantastic job.”
This season has been Jones’ only with the Terps, coming to College Park after serving as an assistant at Virginia Tech for two seasons. Prior to that, he spent 19 seasons as the head coach at DeMatha Catholic High School, where he led the Stags to impressive heights — namely a 511-19 record, nine Washington Catholic Athletic Conference regular-season championships, eight WCAC tournament championships and a national championship in 2006.
He has also coached with USA Basketball, most notably being the head coach of the 2019 U16 national team that won a gold medal at the 2019 FIBA Americas U16 championships.
Jones was an accomplished player at Old Dominion from 1991-95. He twice helped lead the Monarchs to the NCAA Tournament, scoring over 1,000 points in his career and earning all-conference honors as a senior.
Jones will replace longtime Division I head coach Jeff Jones, who announced his retirement after 11 years with Old Dominion following a heart attack and the beginning of his fourth bout with prostate cancer, both of which arose earlier in the season. Jones had been on a leave of absence since January.
Old Dominion announced that it will hold a press conference on Friday.