Jones projects ‘new heights’ for program
New coach wants to build on success of his predecessor
In retrospect, it almost feels like Johnny Jones was destined to be Texas Southern’s next men’s basketball coach.
A native of DeRidder, La., Jones, 57, always has had more family in Houston than in Louisiana.
He faced former TSU coach Mike Davis as a player for LSU in the early 1980s; he became acquainted with current TSU football coach Michael Haywood as an assistant at LSU; and he met Johnetta Hayes-Perry — TSU’s women’s basketball coach — when they worked together at the University of North Texas.
“We’ve never had an opportunity, even in Baton Rouge or the University of Memphis or the University of North Texas, where I was coaching around family,” Jones said at his introductory news conference at H&PE Arena on Wednesday. “It’s great now to live in an area where I have more family here in the city of Houston than I have in the state of Louisiana.”
Texas Southern dominated the Southwestern Athletic Conference during Davis’ six-year stint, winning its first NCAA Tournament game in March. Davis took a coaching job at Detroit Mercy earlier this month.
Jones said he made a fullcourt press for the job because of that foundation and success, but also because of his immediate connections in and around the school.
“This program has been left on solid footing, and it’s on a solid foundation,” he said. “Taking advantage of this great situation here at Texas Southern University is second to none.”
Jones emphasized his aspirations to promote and grow the program’s successes under his tenure.
“We don’t want to just maintain or sustain where coach Davis has been,” he said. “We want to make sure that we take the program to new heights.”
To do that, he wants to continue Davis’ approach of loading the school’s non-conference schedule with difficult competition, with the caveat that some of those games be played at H&PE Arena to help bolster fan and community engagement around TSU basketball.
“In terms of recruiting, going after some of the top players in the country, we’ll be very aggressive in the state,” he said. “Our style of play, we’re going to be upbeat, up-tempo. We’re going to play extremely fast … and that’s going to start at the defensive end of the floor.”
Jones, who posted winning career records as head coach at North Texas and LSU, most recently served as the associate head coach at Nevada, where the team advanced to the Sweet 16 in this year’s NCAA Tournament. But the potential he sees in TSU’s program and the chance to be around family convinced him to pursue the opening.
“It’s first time I’ve been around (my family) where they didn’t have to come from out of town, having to put them in hotel rooms and loading up the house,” he said. “To have an opportunity to come into town and then go and visit and be right there … is just second to none, so I’m really excited about that as well because I know every day is not peaches and cream.”
TSU president Austin Lane prioritized growth. He didn’t want Davis’ successor to maintain but to elevate.
“We’re on the map, we’re going to stay on the map, and we’re going to do great things and continue to win,” Lane said.