UNC Greensboro (UNCG) head men’s basketball coach Mike Jones has announced the addition of Ron Jirsa to his staff as an assistant men’s basketball coach.
 
Jirsa comes to UNCG from Radford where he worked since June 2015. During his time at Radford, Jirsa was responsible for post player development, recruiting, scheduling and academics for Radford.
 
A veteran of the coaching profession for over 30 years, Jirsa also coached one season at Tennessee Tech where he handled post player development and recruiting for the Golden Eagles.
 
“Our success over the later part of my tenure was a direct result of Ron’s arrival,” Jones said. “His experiences and successes in college basketball during his career helped us take the next step and go from a winning program to a championship program.  He has been a head coach at the highest level and has coached many teams in the NCAA tournament.” 
 
The 2018-19 season saw the Highlanders go 22-11 overall and 12-4 in conference play to win a share of the Big South regular season title for the first time since 2008-09. The team reached the Big South Tournament championship game for the second consecutive season as well. He also played an integral role in Radford’s 2017-18 run to a Big South championship and a berth in the NCAA Tournament that included the program’s first ever NCAA Tournament victory.
 
From one Big South regular season title to another, the squad’s 21-11 record during the 2019-20 season carried them to their second straight regular season conference title for the second time in program history. The season featured wins over Northwestern, Richmond and James Madison and a 15-3 conference record. The 20-win season gave Jirsa and company its third straight 20-win season – the most consecutive 20-win seasons in program history.


Jirsa has experience as both a head coach and assistant. Prior to UNCG, Radford, and Tennessee Tech, Jirsa was the recruiting coordinator for Bethel University in Arden Hills, Minn.
 
Before his position with the Royals, Jirsa spent six years as the associate head coach at Minnesota, serving under then-head coach Tubby Smith for the fourth time in his coaching career. Smith and Jirsa first began their working relationship at Virginia Commonwealth, where both served under coach J.D. Barnett during the 1984-85 season. The Rams finished 26-6 that season, winning the Sun Belt Conference title to advance to the NCAA Tournament.
 
They reunited when Smith hired Jirsa as an assistant at Tulsa before the 1991-92 season. Three years later, Jirsa was named associate head coach of the Golden Hurricane.
 
Jirsa accompanied Smith to Georgia when he took over the Bulldogs program in 1995. For two years, he served as associate head coach for Smith at Georgia before serving as head coach from 1997-99. His Bulldog squads posted a combined 35-30 record. During his time in Athens, the Bulldogs put together back-to-back recruiting classes that were rated among the top-five in the nation by several recruiting analysts.
 
His teams also made two NIT appearances. In his first season, Georgia posted a 20-15 record, only the seventh 20-win season in program history, en route to a third-place finish in the NIT. Jirsa’s Bulldogs put together a 4-1 mark in the postseason with wins over Iowa, North Carolina State, Vanderbilt and Fresno State in March 1998.
 
In his six combined seasons as an assistant at Tulsa and Georgia, Jirsa helped four consecutive teams win at least 21 games and reach the NCAA Tournament each year. The first three seasons – two at Tulsa and one at Georgia – he reached the Sweet 16. He also coached Jumaine Jones, who was a first-round NBA Draft pick of the Atlanta Hawks in 1999.
 
Prior to his coaching stint at Minnesota, Jirsa spent four seasons as head coach at Marshall. The Thundering Herd went 13-19 in 2006-07, losing to Memphis in the Conference USA Tournament Quarterfinals.
 
Preceding his position at Marshall, Jirsa was the senior assistant coach at Dayton under then-head coach Oliver Purnell for four seasons. During his stint at UD, the Flyers posted an 88-39 overall record, made two NCAA Tournaments and two NIT appearances. In the 2002-03 campaign, Dayton posted a 24-6 record, won the Atlantic 10 Tournament championship, advanced to the NCAA Tournament as a four seed and finished the season ranked among the top 25 teams in the nation in the final Associated Press and USA Today polls.
 
Jirsa has coached in 30 postseason games overall with 18 of those in the NCAA Tournament.
 
His coaching career began at Connecticut College as an assistant coach following his graduation from Gettysburg College in 1981. Two years later, he moved on to Delaware and spent one season with the Blue Hens, before taking a graduate assistant position with VCU, which finished ranked 11th in the nation in 1984-85.
 
Jirsa earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in biology from Gettysburg College in 1981 and a Master of Arts in athletic administration from Tulsa in 1987. He was a three-sport letterwinner at Ledyard High School in Ledyard, Conn. He and his wife, Laura, have one daughter, Hannah. His father, Ron, played baseball for the Greensboro Patriots in 1957.
 
“He knows what players and teams need to do to win,” Jones said. “His attention to detail helped us to become a more efficient team in just about every aspect. Also, the extensive contacts he has developed through the years have helped us in attracting some key pieces to our championship teams. All in all, Coach J is the total package, and I’m fortunate to have him with me here!”

https://uncgspartans.com/news/2021/5/7/jirsa-joins-mens-basketball-staff.aspx