UNC Pembroke men’s basketball head coach Drew Richards announced Monday that he has retained the services of interim head coach Tony Jones who will now join his coaching staff as associate head coach.
“Tony has not only proven to the entire region that he is a talented coach, but he has also shown that he is ready to take on a bigger role within the program,” Richards said. “I could not be more ecstatic to have him continue on our staff and be my go-to guy. I look forward to working alongside Coach Jones again to grow our program to its fullest potential.”
Jones, who originally joined the program as a student assistant coach prior to the 2014-15 campaign, took over as interim head coach in November and led the Braves to a 24-6 record and their first outright Peach Belt Conference regular season title. The Black & Gold closed out the season by capturing 17 of its last 19 regular season contests on the way to claiming the No. 3 seed in the NCAA Southeast Regional. He was rewarded for his efforts by being named the PBC Coach of the Year.
“I would like to thank UNC Pembroke for giving me the opportunity and trusting me to run the men’s basketball program this past season,” Jones said. “I am truly blessed and thankful to be able to work alongside Drew Richards again. He’s been a great mentor, and is considered family to both myself and UNC Pembroke. The program is in great hands and I have no doubt that he will continue to build on the winning tradition that has been cultivated at UNC Pembroke.”
After excelling as a student assistant coach in his first season with the Braves, Jones was promoted to graduate assistant coach for the 2015-16 campaign and his duties included coordinating practice plans and drills, while also managing graduate and student assistants. He also served an integral role in the recruiting efforts for the program as well.
A testament to his organizational and time management skills, Jones also ran UNCP’s men’s basketball club program which posted a 45-7 (.865) record over two seasons (2015-17), while also picking up multiple tournament championships. The club also attained a No. 1 ranking in the southeast region by winning the title at a Georgia Tech-hosted tournament in 2017.
Jones earned his bachelor’s degree in exercise and sports science from UNCP in 2015 and earned his master’s degree in physical education in 2018.
“I’m very excited that Coach Jones will be back working the sideline with Coach Richards as one of the youngest associate head coaches in all of NCAA Division II,” said director of athletics Dick Christy. “In my opinion, this gives UNC Pembroke one of the best coaching staffs in the country with this year’s Peach Belt Conference regular season and tournament championship coaches on the same bench. Tony showed tremendous growth and leadership through an unbelievably challenging year. It’s a huge win for UNCP that Coach Richards has promoted him to associate head coach.”
