Jon Jaques ’10, who has been on the court for the Big Red for three Ivy League titles and on the sideline for a pair of conference tournament appearances, has been named Associate Head Coach of the men’s basketball program. His varied responsibilities over the years have included game and practice planning, opponent scouting, alumni relations, recruiting, scheduling and individual player development.
In his six seasons on Coach Brian Earl‘s staff, Jaques assisted in making the offense more efficient, lowering opponent scoring average and cutting down on Big Red turnovers – all the things that allow teams to win in the Ivy League. Cornell’s improvement in year two culminated in a spot in the Ivy League Men’s Basketball Tournament for the first time in program history, as well as a four-game improvement in the win column (two game improvement in Ivy play). With 15 wins and its first .500 conference season in nine years in 2019, the Big Red earned a spot into the CBI Postseason Tournament. The Big Red returned to the Ivy Tournament in 2021-22 with a 15-11 overall record, its third time in six seasons finishing in the top half of the conference standings.
Jaques previously spent three seasons on head coach Bill Courtney’s staff as an assistant coach and one year at Columbia as part of Kyle Smith’s 2012-13 staff. Jaques began his coaching career at Stevens Institute of Technology under head coach Bobby Hurley and was part of a staff that led the team to a 20-8 record and a spot in the ECAC semifinals.
Jaques was a four-year member of the Big Red basketball team and a senior captain, emerging as a starter in his final season and developing into one of the nation’s most improved players after playing a total of 108 minutes and scoring 33 points through his first three years. Jaques and his teammates won an Ivy League record 29 games and advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16, defeating nationally ranked opponents Temple and Wisconsin before falling to overall No. 1 seed Kentucky in the regional semifinals. In his four seasons on the team, Cornell went 88-33, including 47-9 in Ivy League play, and won three outright Ivy League titles.
After graduating from Cornell with a degree in Biology and Society in 2010, Jaques spent one season playing professionally with Ironi Ashkelon in the Israeli Premier League.
