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Entering his first season as an associate head coach
at Tennessee and his fifth on Bruce Pearl's coaching
staff is Tony Jones.
Jones' responsibilities including recruiting and
scheduling for the Vols. An instrumental force in
landing some of the influential players in his
teams' successes, he has made in-roads to signing a
number of the top players in the nation.
Jones came to Tennessee with 12 seasons of
collegiate coaching experience after spending four
seasons at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM)
as an associate head coach. Prior to joining the UWM
staff, Jones spent five seasons at Toledo and three
years at Buffalo.
In 12 seasons of collegiate coaching, Jones has
helped direct his teams to five postseason
tournament bids, including a pair of NCAA Tournament
appearances. In 2005 UWM advanced to the Sweet 16 of
the NCAA Tournament with wins over Alabama and
Boston College.
Jones got his first taste of coaching at his alma
mater, Detroit Southwestern High School, where he
served as an assistant varsity coach while also
serving as head junior varsity coach from 1986-91.
During this time he coached future NBA stars Jalen
Rose (Toronto Raptors), Howard Eisley (Utah Jazz)
and Voshon Lenard (Denver Nuggets), leading them to
the mythical USA Today national title in 1991. He
also served as head coach of Team AAU Michigan for
three years (1991-93), posting a 35-1 record and
capturing two AAU state championships.
Jones was an all-city star at Southwestern and went
on to earn all-conference honors at Fisk University
in Nashville. He received a bachelor of arts degree
in health care administration from Concordia (Mich.)
University.
Jones and his wife, Pam, have four children - Tony
II, Jamaal, Mercedes and Porscha. His brother, Bill,
is a former member of the NBA's New Jersey Nets and
played professionally in Italy. |
