Radford men’s basketball head coach Mike Jones has been named the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) District 3 Coach of the Year. He joined UVA’s Tony Bennett and Loyola Chicago’s Porter Moser.
Marty Gordon
NRVsports@ourvalley.org
If Radford University’s Mike Jones is looking for a side job, reporters at the men’s basketball recent NCAA appearance might have found one for him.
The 16th-seeded Highlanders had just lost to top-seeded Villanova, and Jones walked to the podium and said, “I’m just here so I won’t get fined.”
He caught reporters off-guard but got a laugh from most of them in the room as he quoted NFL player Marshawn Lynch who had become known for refusing to talk to the media.
“I always wanted to say that,” Jones said, as he flashed a big smile to cameras.
He did exactly the opposite of Lynch after the comment. He was praising his team for their effort and what they had just gone through.
The sign behind him read “March Madness,” but he was absorbing everything around him.
While his team had just lost in its first-ever second game in the NCAA tournament, their coach told his players to enjoy the moment. That’s exactly what he did.
Before the team walked off the court in Dayton, they stood in front of a group of red-clad RU fans that had made the trip. The team applauded the fans and thanked them for their support. The fans then did the same for the team that set a school record for the most wins in a season.
“I’m very proud of our guys for all that they accomplished this season. They bought into our vision last summer, and worked extremely hard to become champions, and this is something they will share and cherish for the rest of their lives,” Jones said.
Radford finished with a 23-13 record after losing to Villanova, but they had plenty to be proud of including a Big South championship and the first NCAA Tournament victory in program history (71-61 over LIC Brooklyn).
Not bad for a team that had been expected to finish no higher than seventh in the Big South this season. The Highlanders silenced the doubters.
“We definitely used our preseason rankings as motivation this year. Throughout the season, our coaches reminded the guys that no one outside of our immediate circle believed in us. We had a game at home in February, while we were in the hunt for a regular season championship, and in second or third place at the time, when we came out to a pretty empty house vs. a tough High Point team.
We knew then that we had to bring our own juice (energy) and belief. I’m thankful that the guys believed in themselves enough to fight and achieve so much. It was an historical accomplishment,” Jones said.
The team seemed to have a chip on their shoulder, and that they were determined to prove everyone wrong.
Guard Carlik Jones had become the team’s hero after hitting a three at the buzzer of the Big South championship game against Liberty.
“This definitely was not the way that we wanted the season to end, but it has been an unbelievable year. I love these guys. These are my brothers. I will never forget this feeling or memory,” he said.
Teammate Ed Polite Jr. agreed.
“We had a great year. We worked hard throughout the summer and season. We played each game like our last. I appreciate these guys, and we will be back next year.”
Jones believes this year’s team set the stage for others to follow. “They’ve done things that will leave probably the best legacy of any seniors in the history of Radford basketball at the Division 1 level, and I’m very proud of them for that.”
Jones was introduced as Radford’s coach in 2011 and has had three 20-plus win seasons, but this season was special.
Jones, the seventh coach in the history of Radford University, took over a program that had just one win the season prior to his arrival. Since then, he has put together back-to-back 22-win seasons and (2013, 2014) participated in the College Basketball Invitational tournament where he produced wins over Oregon State and Delaware State.
Two years ago, Radford reached the Big South semifinals for the first time since 2010. That season, the team opened the season with a double-overtime victory over Georgetown.
This year, Jones and his staff seemed to put it altogether enroute to a path to the NCAA tournament. He currently makes $205,602 per year but received a couple bonuses this year. Jones will be paid an additional $5,000 for winning the Big South Tournament and another $2,500 for being named the Big South Coach of the Year.
His current contract runs through June 24, 2019, and Athletic Director Robert Lineburg said he will be working with University administration on an extension.
“Mike has done an outstanding job with the program, particularly this season,” Lineburg said.
Before coming to Radford, Jones was an assistant under then-Virginia Commonwealth University coach Shaka Smart, where he was part of 55 wins over two years including a 2011 magical run to the Final Four.
He also served a six-year stint on Dennis Felton’s bench at Georgia from 2003-09, where he was named as one of the nation’s top-25 recruiters.
Jones also previously worked under John Beilein at Richmond from 2000-02 and during the early stages of Beilein’s rebuilding project at West Virginia in 2002-03.
His father, Jimmy, played in the ABA and NBA from 1967 to 1974, and as a player, himself, Jones was a four-year standout at Howard. His oldest son, Nate, plays at Bucknell and his youngest, Miles, is at Radford High School. So, basketball has definitely consumed most of Mike Jones’ life.
The coach is very optimistic about the program’s future because of the type of young men they have in the program, and the amount of talent they have returning.
“Once they get to that “mountaintop” of being champions, it breeds confidence that you can do it again. But now we transition from being the hunter to being the hunted, so we will have to work even harder now,” he said.
The question is what’s the next step for Radford University.
“If by the next step in the NCAA tournament you mean get to the round of 32 or even the sweet 16, I’m not sure. A ridiculous few programs ever make such strides in the tournament.
“Teams like VCU and Wichita State don’t have much history like that, and they have budgets and resources and support that dwarfs ours. So, in order to make that kind of progress we will need to significantly increase the amount of financial and fan support, which in turn will allow us to attract the kind of transcendent talent necessary to compete with elite teams in such an elite tournament,” Jones said.
On paper, Radford returns almost everyone back and the coach is optimistic about what it could bring.
“Some of our most productive players are coming back and have a chance to build on this year’s success in a major way. So far, we have two signees for next year. Devin Hutchinson is a 6’5” wing who can really score and Cle’von Green, a 6’1” do-it-all guard who is also a really good scorer. Both of those guys won player-of-the-year honors this season (at their respective schools) and will be great additions to our team next season,” Jones said.
But if things don’t work out for the coach, there is always comedy. He has that to fall back on after the tournament press conference two weeks ago.
Reality says he might have a chance to crack a joke with a new contract from the school in his pocket, or others might come knocking looking for Jones’ services on a bigger scale. He’s got talent.
