Jones signs extension through ‘26
James Jones, the winningest men’s basketball coach in Yale history, has signed a contract extension that will keep him at the helm of the program through 2026.
Jones, who recently completed his 20th season at Yale with a 22-8 record including the Ivy League regular-season and tournament titles. His 310 career victories are tied with former Penn coach Fran Dunphy for the second most in Ivy League history. He has guided the Bulldogs to four Ivy League championships and two NCAA Tournament appearances.
“I’m extremely pleased and honored to receive a contract extension of this length with the confidence and belief from our Director of Athletics Vicky Chun and our President Peter Salovey,” said Jones, the longest tenured coach in the Ivy League, in a release.
Jones has led Yale men’s basketball to the most successful stretch in its long history. Over the last five years, the Bulldogs have won 102 games, the most of any Ivy League school, posted a 52-18 record in Ivy League games, captured three Ivy League championships, won the first NCAA Tournament game in school history, knocking off Baylor in the first round in 2016, and earned victories over schools from the ACC (Miami), Big 12 (Baylor) and Pac 12 (Washington, California).
Jones, who was inducted into the New England Basketball Hall of Fame in
2015, was named the Ivy League and NABC District
13 Coach of the Year in both
2015 and 2016. This year he was the recipient of the Ben Jobe Award as the top minority coach in Division I men’s basketball presented by CollegeInsider.com.
Jones was in the mix for the St. John’s job and in an interview with Hearst Connecticut Media’s David Borges he reflected on his time at Yale.
“Yale’s a wonderful place,” Jones said. “I have the best kids on the planet. We’ve built something really special here, and we’re committed to improve where we are.”
Despite the graduation of starters Alex Copeland, Trey Phills and Blake Reynolds and the possibility of Ivy League Player of the Year Miye Oni remaining eligible for the NBA Draft, the Bulldogs could have another strong season in
2019-20 with the return of Jordan Bruner, Paul Atkinson, Azar Swain and Eric Monroe, who all played at least 10 minutes per game a season ago. james.fuller @hearstmediact.com; @NHRJimFuller