Brian Jones (basketball, born 1971)
| Current position | |
|---|---|
| Title | Assistant coach |
| Team | Bradley |
| Conference | MVC |
| Biographical details | |
| Born | April 22, 1971 Rock Island, Illinois, U.S. |
| Playing career | |
| 1990–1994 | Northern Iowa |
| Position(s) | Forward/guard |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1994–1996 | Alleman Catholic HS (assistant) |
| 1996–1998 | Nebraska–Omaha (assistant) |
| 1998–1999 | Southwest Missouri State (admin. asst.) |
| 1999–2006 | Iowa (assistant) |
| 2006–2019 | North Dakota |
| 2019–2022 | Illinois State (assistant) |
| 2022 | Illinois State (interim head coach) |
| 2022–2023 | Bradley (assistant) |
| 2023–2025 | East Tennessee State (assistant) |
| 2025–present | Bradley (assistant) |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 192–222 (.464) |
| Tournaments | 0–1 (NCAA Division I) 0–5 (CIT) |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| 2 Great West tournament (2011, 2012) Big Sky regular season (2017) Big Sky tournament (2017) | |
| Awards | |
| Big Sky Coach of the Year (2017) | |
Brian Daniel Jones (born April 22, 1971)[1][2] is an American college basketball coach. He is currently an assistant coach at Bradley. Jones is a graduate of University of Northern Iowa. From 2006 to 2019, Jones was head coach at North Dakota, with an overall record of 192–222.
Early life and college playing career
Jones was born in Rock Island, Illinois. At Rock Island High School, Jones earned two all-state honors in basketball and graduated in 1990.[3]
From 1990 to 1994, Jones attended the University of Northern Iowa, playing four seasons at forward and guard under head coach Eldon Miller.[3] For the Northern Iowa Panthers, Jones played 104 games with 22 starts, averaging 3.7 points and 2.9 rebounds.[4] Jones graduated from Northern Iowa in 1994 with a bachelor's degree in communications and broadcasting.[3]
Coaching career
Early coaching career (1994–2006)
In the spring of 1994, Jones signed a professional contract to play basketball in Australia.[5]
Returning to Rock Island, Jones was an assistant coach at Alleman Catholic High School from 1994 to 1996. Then from 1996 to 1998, Jones was an assistant coach at Nebraska–Omaha while attending graduate school there.[2]
In 1998, Jones began the first of several positions under head coach Steve Alford as administrative assistant for Southwest Missouri State. Jones then followed Alford to Iowa for the same position in 1999.[2] In July 2001, Alford promoted Jones to assistant coach.[6] Jones would remain as assistant through 2006, during which Iowa had the Big Ten Conference's leading rebounder for four seasons and three straight seasons with the conference's best shot blocker.[7]
Jones completed his master's degree in athletics administration at the University of Nebraska Omaha in 2003.[7]
North Dakota (2006–2019)
The University of North Dakota hired Jones as the 18th North Dakota Fighting Sioux (later Fighting Hawks) men's basketball head coach on May 19, 2006.[3][8] Jones was an early applicant among nearly 50.[9][10][8]
Under Jones' tenure, the university won back-to-back Great West tournament championships in 2011 and 2012, and he led North Dakota to four consecutive (five overall) appearances in the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament.[3] In 2017, he led them to the NCAA Division I Tournament for the first time.[3]
After 13 seasons, Jones resigned from North Dakota on May 1, 2019, to become associate head coach at Illinois State.[11]
Later coaching career (2019–present)
Having been associate head coach since 2019, Jones became interim head coach at Illinois State on February 14, 2022, through the end of the season following Dan Muller's resignation.[12] After the season, Jones became assistant coach at Bradley under head coach Brian Wardle, helping the 2022–23 Bradley Braves win the first Missouri Valley Conference regular season title since 1996 and qualify for the 2023 National Invitation Tournament.[7]
On May 3, 2023, Jones became assistant coach at East Tennessee State under head coach Brooks Savage.[13]
Jones returned to Bradley as assistant coach on May 1, 2025, reuniting with Wardle.[14]
Head coaching record
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| North Dakota Fighting Sioux (North Central Conference) (2006–2008) | ||||||||||
| 2006–07 | North Dakota | 11–17 | 3–10 | T–5th | ||||||
| 2007–08 | North Dakota | 15–15 | 2–10 | T–6th | ||||||
| North Dakota: | 26–32 (.448) | 5–20 (.200) | ||||||||
| North Dakota Fighting Sioux / North Dakota (Great West Conference) (2008–2012) | ||||||||||
| 2008–09 | North Dakota | 16–12 | 5–7 | 4th | ||||||
| 2009–10 | North Dakota | 8–23 | 5–7 | T–3rd | ||||||
| 2010–11 | North Dakota | 19–15 | 8–4 | 3rd | CIT First Round | |||||
| 2011–12 | North Dakota | 17–15 | 6–4 | 2nd | CIT First Round | |||||
| North Dakota: | 60–65 (.480) | 24–22 (.522) | ||||||||
| North Dakota / North Dakota Fighting Hawks (Big Sky Conference) (2012–2018) | ||||||||||
| 2012–13 | North Dakota | 16–17 | 12–8 | 3rd | CIT First Round | |||||
| 2013–14 | North Dakota | 17–17 | 12–8 | T–2nd | CIT First Round | |||||
| 2014–15 | North Dakota | 8–22 | 4–14 | T–10th | ||||||
| 2015–16 | North Dakota | 17–16 | 10–8 | T–5th | CIT First Round | |||||
| 2016–17 | North Dakota | 22–10 | 14–4 | 1st | NCAA Division I First Round | |||||
| 2017–18 | North Dakota | 12–20 | 6–12 | T–8th | ||||||
| North Dakota: | 92–102 (.474) | 58–54 (.518) | ||||||||
| North Dakota Fighting Hawks (Summit League) (2018–2019) | ||||||||||
| 2018–19 | North Dakota | 12–18 | 6–10 | 7th | ||||||
| North Dakota: | 12–18 (.400) | 6–10 (.375) | ||||||||
| Illinois State Redbirds (Missouri Valley Conference) (2022) | ||||||||||
| 2021–22 * | Illinois State | 2–5 (.286) | 1–4 (.200) | |||||||
| Total: | 192–222 (.464) | 94–110 (.461) | ||||||||
|
National champion
Postseason invitational champion
| ||||||||||
* Interim coach
References
- ^ "Brian Daniel Jones". OpenPayrolls. Retrieved June 28, 2025.
- ^ a b c "Brian Jones, administrative assistant". University of Iowa. Archived from the original on October 13, 1999. Retrieved June 28, 2025.
- ^ a b c d e f "Brian Jones". University of North Dakota. Retrieved June 28, 2025.
- ^ "Brian Jones". Sports Reference CBB. Retrieved June 28, 2025.
- ^ 1994-95 Northern Iowa Basketball. University of Northern Iowa. 1994. p. 14. Retrieved June 28, 2025.
- ^ "Brian Jones, Assistant Coach". University of Iowa. Archived from the original on December 18, 2001. Retrieved June 28, 2025.
- ^ a b c "Brian Jones". Bradley University. Retrieved June 28, 2025.
- ^ a b Nelson, Wayne (May 20, 2006). "Sioux name Iowa's Jones". Grand Forks Herald. Retrieved June 28, 2025 – via NewsBank.
- ^ Fee, Kevin (May 3, 2006). "Nineteen applicants so far for UND head coaching job". Grand Forks Herald. Retrieved June 28, 2025 – via NewsBank.
- ^ Nelson, Wayne (May 10, 2006). "Search picks up steam". Grand Forks Herald. Retrieved June 28, 2025 – via NewsBank.
- ^ "Brian Jones steps down as North Dakota men's basketball coach". University of North Dakota. May 1, 2019. Retrieved June 28, 2025.
- ^ "Muller Steps Down; Brian Jones To Serve As Interim Head Coach". Illinois State University Athletics. February 14, 2022. Retrieved February 15, 2022.
- ^ "Savage names Brian Jones assistant coach". East Tennessee State University. May 3, 2023. Retrieved June 28, 2025.
- ^ "MBB announces additions to 2025-26 coaching staff". Bradley University. May 1, 2025. Retrieved June 28, 2025.