The starting point guard on Virginia’s 1981 Final Four team and a former head coach at UVa and American, Jones has led ODU since 2013. His 560-418 career record includes eight NCAA tournament appearances, five at Virginia, two at American, the first in program history, and one at ODU.
The Cavaliers won the 1992 National Invitation Tournament in Jones’ second year, and his second Monarchs squad reached the 2015 NIT semifinals. Jones’ best team, at Virginia in 1994-95, shared the ACC regular-season title and advanced to the NCAA Elite Eight, where the Cavaliers fell to then-reigning national champion Arkansas.
Jones suffered his heart attack Dec. 20 in Hawaii, where the Monarchs were preparing for a tournament. Longtime assistant Kieran Donahue has served as interim head coach since, and last month Jones announced that cardiac rehab and additional cancer treatment would force him to miss the remainder of this season.
In its next game, ODU channeled its emotion to rout visiting Marshall.
Two days ago, ODU defeated Coastal Carolina in its home finale, and Jones made a brief appearance to participate in pregame Senior Night ceremonies. He did not stay for the game.
The Monarchs (7-22, 3-13 Sun Belt) close their regular season with road games against Appalachian State on Wednesday and Georgia Southern on Friday. The conference tournament begins March 2 in Pensacola, Florida.
Among the potential successors to Jeff Jones is Maryland assistant Mike Jones, who played for the Monarchs from 1991-95. He is a former DeMatha head coach and Virginia Tech assistant.
In Jones' senior season, ODU upset Villanova in triple-overtime in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
Former ODU guard Drew Williamson (2003-07), an assistant at Florida Atlantic, is another possible target. He was on the Owls' staff for last season's run to the Final Four.
Collegiate Sports Associates, whose executive team includes former Monarchs fundraiser Drew Turner, is expected to assist in ODU's search.
Today in sports history: Feb. 26
1935: Babe Ruth is released by New York Yankees and signed by the Boston Braves
1960: David Jenkins wins figure skating gold at Squaw Valley Olympics
1967: Open-wheel star Mario Andretti wins Daytona 500 in his only NASCAR appearance
2007: Roger Federer breaks Jimmy Connors’ 30-year-old mark with his 161st week atop ATP rankings
2012: Lindsey Vonn captures fourth World Cup super-G race of year, becomes career leader in discipline
2018: UConn women’s team completes undefeated regular season for 10th time in program history
Old Dominion coach Jeff Jones and the Monarchs celebrate a victory last season over George Mason. Jones has stepped away for the remainder of the season to address health concerns.