With over 20 years of coaching experience, Joe Jones enters the 2023-24 season at the helm with the Boston University men’s basketball team seeking his third postseason berth in five years and sixth overall in 12 years under his watchful eye. He’s been recognized by HoopsHD.com as the Patriot League Coach of the Year in two of the last four seasons.
The Long Island native has led BU to 10 top-five finishes in the conference standings, highlighted by a Patriot League regular season title in 2014. The Terriers have finished second on three occasions, including in 2020 en route to the conference tournament crown. In 2022, they took third and went on to eliminate UNC Greensboro in the opening round of the College Basketball Invitational (CBI). At the end of the 2019-20 season, Jones became a three-time finalist for the Ben Jobe National Coach of the Year Award (top NCAA Division I minority coach) and also received his first HoopsHD.com’s Patriot League Coach of the Year honor.
Jones has coached 23 All-Conference Team honorees, including 2022 Patriot League Player of the Year Sukhmail Mathon (’22), 2012 America East Player of the Year Darryl Partin (’12) and two-time All-Patriot League First Team honoree Eric Fanning (’17). 2020 Patriot League Tournament MVP Max Mahoney (’20) left BU as the career record holder for field goal shooting percentage (60.1) and a Lou Henson All-American.
This past season, Walter Whyte (’23) became the third-ever Terrier to earn four All-Conference Team awards alongside BU Hall of Famer Tunji Awojobi (’97) and former Cleveland Cavalier/Boston Celtic John Holland (’11). Whyte left Commonwealth Avenue No. 4 all-time in the program record book with 836 rebounds, No. 6 at 1,696 points and No. 9 with 192 career 3-pointers, as he became the second alongside Awojobi to reach 1,600+ points and 800+ rebounds. Fellow classmate Jonas Harper (’23) made history too as the first Terrier to earn three All-Defensive Team awards from a conference while finishing No. 5 at 221 3-pointers and No. 9 at 150 steals.
Named BU’s first-ever PL Player of the Year, Mathon averaged BU’s first double-double in 25 seasons at 15.1 ppg and 10.2 rpg. The two-time PL All-Defensive Team honoree ended his collegiate career No. 3 all-time at BU and No. 7 in the PL with 875 rebounds while also finishing No. 7 at BU with 79 blocks and 53.0 FG%. A three-time All-PL honoree and two-time PL All-Tournament Team member, Javante McCoy (’22) averaged a personal-best 17.4 ppg, 49.5 FG% and 42.5 3FG% his final season. He finished his collegiate career No. 4 at BU with 1,930 points, ninth most in the PL. His 731 made field goals are second all-time at BU, while his 200 3-pointers rank No. 6. He also ranks No. 9 with 379 career assists.
Two-time All-PL honoree Cedric Hankerson (’18) finished his career 13th all-time at BU with 1,299 points, fourth in made 3-pointers (235) and fourth in steals (177) after former teammate John Papale (’16) flushed 287 3-pointers, second most in program history. Since the 2012-13 season, nine Terriers have claimed All-Rookie honors, including Ethan Brittain-Watts in 2020, Harper in 2019 and Whyte in 2018.
Mahoney, Mathon and McCoy with the rest of the roster helped BU have a historic 2019-20 campaign. Besides claiming their first-ever road conference tournament title with a 64-61 win at defending champion Colgate, the Terriers also earned their first-ever win against the Southeastern Conference at South Carolina (78-70). Other highlights included Javante McCoy becoming the 39th Terrier to reach the 1,000-point milestone and BU finishing second in the PL for scoring defense (66.7 ppg) while holding opponents to 43.7 FG%.
In his 11 seasons with the Terriers, Jones has surpassed names like Rick Pitino, Mike Jarvis and former NBA head coach John Kuester to No. 2 all-time at BU with 187 victories after helping guide the Terriers to back-to-back Patriot League semifinal appearances in 2017 and 2018. Besides snapping Lehigh’s seven-game win streak during the 2018 Patriot League quarterfinals and Bucknell’s 15-game home win streak, BU shot 46.2 percent from the field, the team’s highest mark since 1993-94, and ranked tied-for-fifth in the NCAA with 11 players reaching double figures in points.
In 2016-17, BU led a conference in defensive field goal shooting percentage (.425) for the first time since 2004-05 and finished the year 14th in the country in steals per game (8.3 spg). On the offensive end, they finished third in the PL in scoring at 73.1 ppg and eclipsed the 100-point milestone for the first time since 1994 with a 102-78 victory over Maine.
With all of the injuries in 2015-16, Jones only had three players appear in all 34 games but still produced several impressive accomplishments, including an NCAA-high 13 men reaching double-figure scoring at least once. The Terriers also improved their win total by six games from a year ago and claimed their first postseason win since 2010 with a 69-66 victory at Atlantic-10 foe Fordham in the opening round of the CIT. Other highlights include a seven-game win streak during conference play, a 69-64 win over three-time defending America East champion Albany and 78-64 victory at American Athletic Conference member South Florida.
During the 2014-15 season, a youthful BU squad was without a senior and only had two returning starters in the lineup to open the year for the first time since 2005. Still, the Terriers managed to extend their streak of finishing with a record of .500 or better in conference play to 15 seasons, which is tied for 12th longest in the nation. Highlights of the year include Hankerson scoring 24 points at then-No. 1 Kentucky and swiping a program-record nine steals against American to help BU sweep the Eagles for the first time since joining the conference. Three men earned at least one double-double with Nathan Dieudonne tallying six as a junior after earning just one his first two years at BU.
The 2013-14 season proved to be a memorable one, as BU finished atop the conference standings for the first time since 2004. The Terriers went 15-3 in league play and finished with a 24-11 overall record for the second most wins in school history and just one win shy of the record set in 1996-97. After making their 16th overall appearance in a conference championship final, they advanced to the NIT for the team’s second consecutive postseason appearance following the 2013 CIT.
In-season highlights include Jones becoming the first-ever BU coach to claim two victories against the 61-year-old Atlantic Coast Conference when the Terriers won at Maryland (83-77) on Dec. 21 after topping Boston College (75-61) at Conte Forum in 2011. Under his guidance, BU averaged 71.2 ppg and finished the year shooting 45.2 percent from the field, the team’s highest mark since 1992-93. The team set two team records with 64 points in a first half against UMass Lowell and a 66.1 shooting percent mark against Lafayette in the Patriot League tournament.
Individually, Maurice Watson Jr. set a school and Patriot League record with 248 assists in a season while also tallying 74 steals, second most in a season. D.J. Irving finished his collegiate career ranked ninth in scoring, while classmate Dom Morris became just the sixth Terrier in program history to reach 1,000 points and 700 rebounds.
On the defensive end, BU went 17-3 when holding opponents below 70 points and led a conference in turnover margin for the first time since 2005 at +1.91. Season highlights included holding fellow Patriot League member Navy to its lowest offensive output (32) since 1943 and limiting the league’s top scoring offense (Lafayette) to just 54 points in a 91-54 rout. The margin of victory was the largest ever for a Patriot League quarterfinal game.
The strong regular season and conference tournament performances helped BU earn the opportunity to host Big Ten member Illinois at Agganis Arena in front of a national television audience on ESPN2. The National Invitation Tournament appearance marked the Terriers’ first since 2005 and the program’s fourth overall postseason berth in the last five seasons.
BU’s success was a continuation of the momentum built from the 2012-13 season. Despite being banned from the 2013 America East tournament due to the move to the Patriot League, the Terriers (17-13, 11-5 AE) finished second in the league standings and swept both of the conference tournament finalists en route to the CollegeInsider.com Tournament.
Besides the tournament ban, the 2012-13 season was presented with many others challenges, including the graduation of six players from the previous season. With a recruiting class heralded by ESPN.com as one of the best at the mid-major level, BU started two freshmen in the season opener for the first time since 2006. The Terriers would go on to lead the conference in field goal shooting percentage (.449) for the first time since 1994 and in assists (13.6 per game) for the first time since 2004. On the defensive end, they held nine straight non-conference opponents below 70 points, a feat last seen over 50 years ago.
Four players went on to earn All-Conference honors with D.J. Irving (first team) also receiving Mid-Major All-America honors behind a team-high 14.2 ppg. In his rookie year, All-AE third team member Maurice Watson Jr. averaged 11.2 ppg and became the first freshman since 2006 to lead the league in assists at 5.4 apg. A 2012 Parade All-American, he tallied the most assists by a Terrier since 1990 with 13 at Binghamton and later followed up a points-rebounds double-double with a points-assists double-double.
In Jones’ first season on Commonwealth Ave., the Terriers recorded a 12-4 (.750) record in America East action, marking the best-ever winning percentage in conference play by a first-year head coach in BU history. They finished with a 16-16 record after facing a challenging non-conference schedule that included 11 of 15 games away from home.
Highlights included the Terriers defeating crosstown rival Boston College at Conte Forum for the first time since 1974 and earning their first win over the Atlantic Coast Conference since 2002. After a one-point loss to then-No. 26 Cleveland State during the TicketCity Legends Classic, they rebounded the next day with a victory at Rhode Island, snapping the Rams’ 32-game home win streak against non-conference opponents.
Despite joining the program in the middle of June, several players progressed quickly on the court under his guidance. Darryl Partin increased his point total by 5.3 ppg to finish the season at 19.6 ppg, ranking 21st nationally. Partin would earn the program’s fifth-ever America East Player of the Year award and also receive Associated Press All-America Honorable Mention accolades.
An America East All-Rookie Team member, D.J. Irving had a stellar sophomore campaign, becoming the first Terrier since 1990 to lead the league in assists at 5.4 apg. Named AE Player of the Week on two occasions, he finished the year with All-AE Second Team honors after averaging 11.4 ppg.
Boston University named Joe Jones, who was most recently the associate head coach at Boston College, the 25th head coach of the men’s basketball program, on June 23, 2011.
A former head coach at Columbia University, Jones left crosstown rival Boston College after one year as associate head coach and returned to the America East Conference after gaining coaching experience in the Big East Conference, Ivy League and Atlantic Coast Conference over 14 seasons. The Eagles finished the 2010-11 season at 21-13 and advanced to the second round of the National Invitation Tournament.
Prior to joining the Eagles, Jones served as head coach at Columbia from 2003 to 2010. In the season prior to his arrival, they went 2-25 overall and 0-14 in conference play. The following year, he led them to a 10-17 (6-8) record, marking the third-best single-season turnaround in Ivy League history.
In 2006-07, the Lions captured 16 wins, the best performance by a Columbia squad since 1992-93. The Class of 2010 would finish with 26 Ivy League victories, marking the most conference wins by a Columbia class since the Class of 1994. In addition, the group became the third consecutive class to record 53 wins, a feat that hadn’t been reached since the Class of 1979.
Jones previously served as an assistant coach at Villanova for six seasons (1997-2003) – four years under Steve Lappas and two years under Jay Wright – and was named one of the nation’s top recruiters by Eastern Basketball magazine in 1999. During his tenure, the Wildcats advanced to postseason play in five of the six seasons and compiled a 105-83 record.
His collegiate coaching career began in the America East with Hofstra (1994-97) as an assistant coach under Wright. During his first season, he helped recruit the No. 1 ranked class in the conference. His recruiting efforts assisted in laying the groundwork for the Pride’s rise in prominence that culminated in a three-year record of 72-22.
Before entering the collegiate coaching arena, Jones served as head coach at Long Island’s Comsewogue High School for two years (1993-94). The Long Island native was a four-year letterman at the State University of New York at Oswego (1983-87) where he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in communications in 1987 and a master’s degree in counseling in 1989.
Jones and his wife, Kristin, have two children – daughter, Sydney and son, JJ. His older brother, James, just completed his 22nd season as the head coach at Yale after they coached against each other at the 2018 Reese’s College All-Star Game during the NCAA Final Four weekend.
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