Radford University Athletics

Head coach Mike Jones has completed nine seasons at the helm of the Radford men’s basketball program after taking the position on June 14, 2011. He and his teams have won 159 games at Radford, making him the third-winningest coach in program history. 87 of those wins have come against Big South competition.
 

18 players have been named All-Big South in his time at Radford and 10 players have been tabbed VaSID All-State. Under Jones, both Javonte Green (2014-15) and Ed Polite Jr. (2018-19) were named Big South Defensive Player of the Year while Carlik Jones earned Big South Freshman of the Year honors in 2017-18 and claimed the Big South Player of the Year award for the 2019-20 season. The  2014-15 campaign also featured a huge academic honor as Kyle Noreen was named a CoSIDA Academic All-District member.

Carlik Jones’ Player of the Year honor wasn’t the only bright spot in the 2019-20 season, as the squad’s 21-11 record carried them to their second straight regular season conference title. The 20-win season gave Jones’ and company its third straight 20-win season – the most consecutive 20-win seasons in program history. The  season featured wins over Northwestern, Richmond and James Madison and saw Jones reach his 150^th win as a head coach. He was later named a Hugh Durham and Ben Jobe Award finalist by CollegeInsider.com and donned his second Big South Coach of the Year honor.

The 2018-19 season was full of milestones for Jones and the Highlanders. The team went 22-11 and 12-4 in conference play, earning a share of the Big South regular season title for the first time since 2008-09. Radford went on the road and knocked off Notre Dame and No. 17 Texas, which was the first victory over a ranked opponent in Radford history. Radford began its conference slate a perfect 7-0 to become one of the final 15 teams in the nation still undefeated.

The Highlanders remained atop the standings for nearly the entire season and as the No. 2 seed in the Big South Tournament, reached the title game for the second consecutive season. Five of the 11 20-plus win season in program history have now come under Jones. For his success on the court and his high moral standing off of it, he was also named a finalist for the Skip Prosser Man of the Year award following the 2018-19 season.

2017-18 was arguably Jones’ most successful season to date, the season in which he was named Big South Coach of the Year and NABC District 3 Coach of the Year honors after leading the Highlanders to a Big South championship and playing in the NCAA Tournament for the third time in program history.

Taking Coach Jones’ lead, Radford set a Division I school record with 23 wins, completing the season at 23-13. The Highlanders earned victories over notable opponents such as East Carolina and James Madison during the non-conference schedule before compiling a 12-6 Big South record to finish the regular season in second place. He also became the third head coach in Radford history to reach 100 wins on Dec. 23, 2017 when the Highlanders topped UC Davis to clinch the Continental Tire Las Vegas Classic title.

The team’s postseason run was one to remember. Thanks in part to Jones preaching toughness and hard work throughout his tenure, the Highlanders overcame several obstacles in the Big South Championships to top No. 10 Longwood, No. 3 Winthrop and No. 5 Liberty to take home the program’s third ever conference title. The entire championship run culminated with “The Shot”, as redshirt freshman Carlik Jones’s buzzer-beating 3-pointer lifted Radford over in-state rival Liberty, 55-52, in front of a sellout crowd at the Dedmon Center.

Jones and the Highlanders earned a No. 16 seed in the NCAA Tournament and were selected to play in the First Four in Dayton, Ohio. It was there on March 13, 2018 that Radford won its first ever NCAA Tournament victory – a 71-61 win over LIU Brooklyn.

The magical season came to a close with a tough loss to No. 1 overall seed Villanova who went on to win the National Championship. The entire experience was an incredible opportunity for Radford University, including students, alumni, faculty, staff and fans, to come together to support a common cause.

The seventh head coach in program history, Jones took over a program with just one win in the season prior to his arrival on campus and led a three-year turnaround that resulted in back-to-back 22-win seasons in 2013-14 and 2014-15. Radford competed in postseason play those three seasons as well, with the Highlanders taking home the program’s first and second postseason victories over Oregon State and Delaware State in the College Basketball Invitational before the 2017-18 NCAA Tournament run.

During his tenure, the Highlanders have defeated opponents such as Northwestern, Texas, Notre Dame, Georgetown, Virginia Tech and Penn State. The success of the program has led to an increase in exposure all over the country with the team appearing on national and regional television countless times. Radford’s success can be attributed to the foundation laid in Jones’ first season in the red and white with Big South All-Freshman selections Javonte Green and R.J. Price. Green, who was Jones’ first All-Big South performer, and Price spearheaded the Highlanders’ resurgence to the top of the league.

Under Jones’ tutelage, Green developed into one of the all-time greats in Radford men’s basketball history. The Petersburg, Va., native finished his career second in scoring, first in rebounding, first in steals, second in free throws made, second in field goals made and first in games played. He became the Highlanders’ first NBA player when the Boston Celtics signed him for the 2019-20 season. Price left RU ranked fourth all-time in scoring.

The duo represents two of 12 Highlanders to turn pro following their career in Radford. Rashun Davis, Brandon Holcomb, Randy Phillips, Ed Polite Jr., and Travis Fields Jr., have all gone from learning under Jones to extending their basketball careers into the professional realm.

The 2016-17 season saw the Highlanders reach the Big South Championship semifinals for the first time since 2010. Ed Polite Jr., led the Big South in rebounding and double-doubles (14). He also led Radford in scoring and steals, and ranked second on the team in blocks and third in assists. The 6-5 forward averaged 9.5 rebounds per game to rank 31st in the NCAA, while becoming the first sophomore in program history to reach the 500 career rebound-mark and the second to do so in two seasons of play.

The Highlanders opened the 2015-16 campaign with a double-overtime victory at Georgetown and followed up just 10 days later with a road win at Penn State, the program’s first victory over a Big 10 opponent. 

Jones spent the 2009-10 and 2010-11 seasons at VCU, which included a magical run to the 2011 Final Four with wins over USC, Georgetown, Purdue, Florida State and Kansas. While on Shaka Smart’s staff, the Rams posted 55 wins over the final two seasons Jones was on the staff, the highest total over any two-year span in program history.

Prior to his second coaching stop in Virginia at VCU, Jones served a six-year stint on Dennis Felton’s bench at Georgia from 2003-09. In 2008, Georgia advanced to the NCAA Tournament when the sixth-seeded Bulldogs won four games in three days to complete the most improbable SEC Championship run in conference history, which included a tornado striking the Georgia Dome and the tournament being moved to the Georgia Tech campus.

While at Georgia, Jones made a name for himself when Rivals.com selected him as one of the nation’s Top-25 recruiters in 2005. Jones also previously worked under John Beilein at Richmond from 2000-02 and during the early stages of Beilein’s rebuilding project at West Virginia in 2002-03.

Jones’ father Jimmy was a star guard in the ABA from 1967-74. In 1974, Jimmy Jones signed with the Washington Bullets in the NBA, where he remained until 1977.

Jones was a four-year standout at Howard, where he forged a connection with fellow Howard alumnus, Felton (’85), who he calls the biggest influence on his coaching career. Once Jones graduated with a degree in Zoology in 1990, he began his coaching career as a high school coach at Sidwell Friends School in Washington, D.C. before moving to the collegiate ranks at his alma mater in 1994.

He currently resides in the New River Valley with his wife, Dr. Sharon Blackwell Jones. The oldest of his two sons, Nate, was a member of the Bucknell men’s basketball team and his youngest son, Miles, is currently on the Radford men’s basketball team.