Godspeed to Jeff Jones, who’s stepping away after 41 years

By Jerry Ratcliffe

It was early fall, 1990, when I called Virginia sports information director Rich Murray and asked for a meeting with new head basketball coach Jeff Jones.

Having covered Jones’ playing career as an outstanding guard for Terry Holland’s teams, and his role as a Holland assistant, I sensed an opportunity to give our newspaper a leg up on all our rivals in covering UVA hoops.

Jones, at 29, was the youngest head basketball coach in ACC history, and there was immense interest in the new regime.

We had our meeting — Coach Jones, Mr. Murray, his assistant Michael Colley, myself (sports editor/columnist of the local paper) and my beat writer at the time.

The meeting was slated for a half hour to hash out my request, asking for greater access to the team, explaining that reader interest was off the charts, and we wanted to give our readers more than anyone else was willing to do at the time.

I wanted myself or our beat guy to be at every practice and to get a five-minute daily update on whatever was topical with Jones and a player. What was scheduled for 30 minutes took only five, because Jones saw it as a good thing for Virginia basketball.

“So, you’re asking for more access?” Jones started the meeting.

“Yes,” was my answer.

“No problem … I like it, let’s do it,” Jones said, and within the next two minutes we mapped out a daily plan.

That’s how easy it was to work with Jeff Jones. To this day, of all the coaches I’ve worked with at six Division I schools during my career, Jones was by far the best to deal with.

His door was always open, always accessible. He was always candid. If he didn’t like something I wrote, he’d tell me and we’d work it out. If he did like something, he’d tell me, too.

I’ll never forget going over to his house near U-Hall during his final days in Charlottesville, sitting down and reflecting on his career and what was next. I knew he would always be a coach. It was in his blood. His dad, Bob, was coach at Kentucky Wesleyan.

So it was bittersweet when news broke this week that after 41 years in the coaching profession, 32 as a head coach, Jones, now age 63, was retiring.

Bitter because the profession needs more guys like Jeff Jones, guys who do things the right way. Sweet because he has removed himself from the pressure-cooker of college athletics, which has accelerated from NIL and transfer portal issues and turned things upside down.

“I’m doing, hopefully, all the right things, and I feel great,” Jones said during his announcement Monday in Norfolk. “But I think a big part of the feeling great is also not having that stress that I’ve had for 41 years as a coach, and believe me, it’s different not being in that pressure-cooker.

“While I thought, ‘Well, I’m feeling great, Maybe one more year.’ The more I thought about it, there’s a lot of things to look forward to, and I did want to prioritize my family, my health and happiness. I think being happy is really, really, really underrated.”

Jones, who suffered a heart attack on Dec. 20, when his Old Dominion University team was in Hawaii for a holiday tournament, hasn’t coached since. Part of him wanted to come back for one more year, to get things fixed. The smarter part realized it was better to walk away and focus on the rest of his life.

“It’s time,” Jones told a packed room that included former players, media, friends, family, ODU officials. It was an emotional press conference with the longtime coach understandably choking up, especially when thanking those who have stood by him, including his wife, Danielle (Danee).

“I want to publicly thank someone,” a teary-eyed Jones said. “I want to publicly thank Danee for being my person. A coaches’ wife is really a tough job.”

A hard-nosed, intelligent point guard for Holland, a guard who held UVA’s career assists record until John Crotty came along, Jones helped Virginia win an NIT title and made it to the Final Four with Ralph Sampson. It was only natural that he quickly joined Holland’s staff as an assistant.

Jones got off to a hot start as Holland’s successor and took the Cavaliers to the postseason in six out of eight seasons, including the Elite Eight in 1995, barely missing out on the Final Four.

He is the nation’s 19th-winningest active coach and tied at No. 91 among all-time winningest coaches in Division I hoops, including a 203-131 record in 11 seasons at ODU, where he was hired by AD Wood Selig, whom he met at UVA.

Jones also successfully guided American University for more than a decade, winning four Patriot League titles and advancing to the postseason three times prior to his stint at ODU.

“He has been on a roller coaster for the last several weeks,” Dr. Selig told Harry Minium of the ODU athletic department. “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.’”

Certainly, Jones has earned the right to proudly walk away and enjoy his family, stress-free of myriad problems with today’s sport.

Whatever he chooses to do, we wish him godspeed. We’re sure his door will always be open.