A veteran coach with extensive Missouri Valley Conference experience in addition to tenures leading a Division I program and in the Big Ten, Brian Jones is in his first season as assistant coach with the Bradley men’s basketball program.
“I’m very excited to add Brian Jones to our program,” said Bradley head coach Brian Wardle. “He fits in seamlessly into our culture and is the type of character and mentor we want around our student-athletes. He brings a wealth of experience and we’re excited for him to bring a different perspective and voice to our program.”
Jones has ties to three different Missouri Valley Conference programs, including the last three seasons at Illinois State as associate head coach. During his time with the Redbirds, Jones served as offensive coordinator as ISU placed in the top three in the conference in scoring offense in each of his final two seasons on campus.
Prior to his time at Illinois State, Jones spent 13 seasons as head coach at North Dakota from 2006 to 2019. After transitioning from Division II to Division I, Jones led the Fighting Hawks to three conference tournament titles and six postseason appearances in his final eight seasons on campus. Highlighting the postseason success was a run to the Big Sky title and the program’s first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance in 2017.
Named the 2017 Big Sky and NABC District 6 Coach of the Year, Jones coached one College Court Report Mid-Major Player of the Year with the Fighting Hawks, four Lou Henson Mid-Major All-Americans, four all-district honorees and 12 all-conference selections.
Before leading the North Dakota program, Jones spent seven seasons at Iowa, serving as an assistant coach under Steve Alford. During his time with the Hawkeyes, Jones helped lead the team to two Big Ten Tournament crowns and six postseason appearances. He worked directly with Iowa’s frontcourt players with Reggie Evans leading the nation in rebounding in back-to-back seasons. Overall, a Hawkeye led the Big Ten in boards in four of his final five years, while also having the league’s top shot blocker in three-straight campaigns.
Jones got his start with Alford at Missouri State where he worked as an administrative assistant during the 1998-99 season, helping the Bears advance to the NCAA Sweet 16 and rank in the top 20 nationally.
A native of Rock Island, Illinois, Jones received his first taste of Missouri Valley Conference basketball as a member of the Northern Iowa program from 1989 to 1994. Following graduation, he played professionally in Australia and Portugal.
Jones received his bachelor’s in communications from UNI in 1994, while completing his master’s in athletic administration from Omaha in 2003.
Jones and his wife, Danna, have two sons, Jaxson and Jonah, and one daughter, Jersey.
https://bradleybraves.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster/coaches/brian-jones/3410
