Stith leaves ODU for assistant role at UNC-Greensboro

By Jerry Ratcliffe

Legendary UVA basketball star Bryant Stith is saying goodbye to Old Dominion, where he has been an assistant for the past nine years, and taking a similar position at UNC-Greensboro under head coach Mike Jones.

The 51-year-old Stith has been an assistant for Jeff Jones, who was also Stith’s coach at Virginia, where he managed to coach his two sons, Brandan and B.J., during that span. Stith helped Jones guide the Monarchs to a Conference USA title, an NCAA Tournament appearance, the NIT semifinals and ODU’s first top-25 ranking in men’s basketball.

Still UVA’s leading scorer in program history (2,516 points), he was a rare three-time, first-team All-ACC selection. The Denver Nuggets drafted him in 1992 (13th overall pick), where he played for 10 seasons.

Stith was a star at Brunswick High School where he later coached and led the Bulldogs to three consecutive state high school titles after he retired from the NBA. Jeff Jones convinced him to come and be his assistant.

UNCG went 17-15 last season in Mike Jones’ first year. Mike Jones was previously head coach at Radford.