Old Dominion men's basketball coach Jeff Jones is retiring.
The 63-year-old is leaving college basketball after multiple health scares prompted him to step away from the program he's coached since 2013. Jones suffered a heart attack on Dec. 20, during ODU's trip to Hawaii for the Diamond Head Classic. In January, Jones announced a fourth battle with prostate cancer; that news coincided with Jones taking an indefinite hiatus.
On Monday, the school announced Jones would retire. Kieran Donohue has served as the Monarchs' interim coach and will continue through the remainder of the season. ODU is 7-22 this season.
"I feel extremely blessed to have had the opportunity to coach college basketball for 41 years," Jones said in a statement. "These past 11 years at Old Dominion University have been especially rewarding. I would like to thank ODU President Brian Hemphill and Athletic Director Wood Selig for their unwavering support and friendship. I would like to thank my staff for their hard work and dedication, especially Kieran Donohue for taking the reins these last few months. I would like to thank Monarch Nation for being the best fan base a coach could ever ask for, for their conference-leading attendance, and for their undying commitment to this program. And I would like to thank the many student-athletes who made us proud both on and off the court.
"Basketball has given me a life that exceeded all of my expectations. It is hard to step away from coaching, but I will always be grateful to the people along the way who made this career possible. Thank you to the players, the assistants, the administrators, the fans, the families, and the friends who have been part of this journey – you will be a member of my team for life."
Jones guided ODU to the 2019 NCAA Tournament, its only Big Dance appearance during a nine-year run as a Conference USA member.
Over 32 seasons, Jones amassed a 560-418 record at three schools. He began his head coaching career at his alma mater, Virginia, where he was in charge of the Cavaliers from 1990-98. Jones inherited that job after serving for eight years an assistant to his college coach, Terry Holland. The high point in Jones' Virginia run was a 1995 Elite Eight run. Jones' longest stint was as head coach at American (2000-13). He took the Eagles to back-to-back NCAA Tournaments in 2008-09.
Prior to his coaching career, Jones was a prototypical ACC point guard at UVa. He graduated in 1982 and remains third in all-time assists (598) in program history behind Kihei Clark (718) and John Crotty (683).
