By Jerry Ratcliffe

Jeff Jones, former head basketball coach at Virginia, Old Dominion and American, has been named chair of the 2026 National Invitation Tournament (NIT) committee.

Jones, who also starred at point guard for the Cavaliers under Terry Holland in the early 1980s, spent 32 years as a head coach and posted a record of 560 wins, 418 losses during his career. He led his teams to 10 appearances in either the NCAA Tournament or NIT, including a spectacular run in 1995 when his UVA team knocked off Kansas and came within a hairbreadth of making the Final Four. His ‘92 Virginia team won the NIT Championship, beating Notre Dame.

Also named to the new NIT committee: former Ole Miss coach Kermit Davis, Kelley Ford (Horizon League senior associate commissioner) and Clifton Douglass, the Conference USA associate commissioner for basketball.

Jones was a member of the NIT committee in 2024-25.

In addition, Jones was also one of eight former coaches named Wednesday to the NABC Tournament Advisory Committee, which will provide feedback all season to the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Committee, meaning that Jones will have a voice in recommending teams to both major college basketball tournament fields.