Jeff Jones is gearing up for his fourth season as the Head Men's Basketball Coach at Old Dominion University, where he's guided the Monarchs to a 70-39 overall record in his tenure. That included a Championship in the inaugural Vegas 16 Tournament after falling in a nail-biter to Middle Tennessee in the Conference USA Tournament.
The 2016-17 campaign will be a pivotal one in the growth for ODU. They have to replace their top two scorers from last season in Trey Freeman - one of the nation's best point guards - and wing Aaron Bacote. Both had stellar careers and were local products; Bacote out of Bethel High in Hampton and Freeman from Virginia Beach's Kellam High.
However, the cupboard is far from bare for ODU with promising young talent on the roster, featuring rising sophomore Zoran Talley as well as solid front-court players in Denzel Taylor and Brandan Stith. They have several new faces - such as Randy Haynes and Trey Porter from Potomac along with Brandan's younger brother, B.J. Stith.
Even with the departures of Freeman and Bacote, there will be plenty of local flavor on the roster in the form of Hampton High grad Jordan Baker, plus newcomers Xavier Green of Williamsburg Christian and 3A State Player of the Year Travis Fields from reigning three-time State Champ Norcom in Portsmouth.
During their recent Team Camp, Jones discussed the makeup roster, the importance of recruiting in-state players and next season's outlook in an in-depth interview we played back on High School Sports Talk Presented by VirginiaPreps.com on ESPN Radio 94.1. You can hear the full interview at the link below...
Hear the Jeff Jones Interview Here
Matthew Hatfield serves as State Basketball Analyst for VirginiaPreps.com, part of the Rivals.com Network, and is a staff writer for Tar Heel Illustrated. Check out Hatfield’s Twitter page for more sports related updates, and you can also read his work in the Suffolk News Herald. To contact Matthew, please e-mail hatfieldsports2k4@yahoo.com, and don’t forget to listen to him every Saturday at 10 AM on ESPN Radio 94.1, plus watch him on the Cox 11 Sports Report.
