This was supposed to be a big month for the Jones family. We have seen other coaching brothers make the NCAA tourney in recent years (Archie/Sean Miller, Bobby/Danny Hurley, etc.), but this was going to be the year of the Jones. Yale coach James Jones made the tourney last year and had a legendary upset of Baylor in 2016, and after 16 years as a head coach his brother James finally made it this year as head coach at BU. Then the NCAA tourney was canceled and we were left to wonder “what if”. For those of you who thought the history of North Alabama basketball began 2 years ago when the Lions joined the Atlantic Sun: think again. Coach Bill L. Jones passed away in 2008 but HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel continues our 7-part series of Joneses past and present by chatting with Gerald Lavender about winning the 1979 D-2 title under Coach Jones and his coach’s impact on the school.
Jones played basketball at North Alabama and later became head coach/athletic director at his alma mater: how did he balance being a coach with being an administrator? I think that he did an excellent job. It was not until after I left that he became the AD but they did go back to the national tourney and had a great winning percentage.
He led the Lions to the 1979 D-2 national title game and beat Green Bay to win it all: what did it mean to him to win a title? I was on that team as well. I think it was 1 of the highest points of his career at the time. We were the only school in the state to win a national title, which meant a lot to him.
In the 1984 D-2 Final 4 he had a 4-PT OT loss to eventual champion Central Missouri State: where does that rank among the most devastating losses of his career? Any loss was devastating to him, no matter who he was facing. We had to hear about it and work to correct it: he did not like losing, period.
He won 5 regional titles and made 4 Final 4 appearances during an 8-year span from 1977-1984: how was he able to be so dominant for such a long period of time? He did a very good job of recruiting some top high school/junior college players. He created a defense that smothered people and kept us together and out of trouble.
He was named District Coach of the Year in 1980/1984: what did it mean to him to receive such outstanding honors? He and his family were proud of that but he was even prouder of what it meant to the school.
His son Rex played basketball at Alabama and his grandsons Barrett/Harrison/Walker all played football for the Tide: who was the best athlete in the family? I think he would say that Rex was the best of all of them.
He was inducted into the school’s Hall of Fame in 1992 and the school’s Athletic Complex was named in his honor in 2011: how much of an impact has he had on the school? From the time he became a coach he recruited players who graduated and then became productive citizens in the US or played pro basketball overseas. It was about the way that he approached the players’ families and the importance of being a student-athlete. He was very instrumental in the community and was really interactive with the fans and very positive.
When people look back on his career, how do you think that he should be remembered the most? As the coach who won the 1st national title in the state of Alabama: everyone on the team was proud of that.