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Men's Basketball
Jones, Jonathan
Jonathan Jones
- Title:
- Assistant Coach
- Email:
- jjones55@princeton.edu
- Phone:
- 609-258-2388
Former professional player Jonathan Jones joined the Princeton men's basketball coaching staff as an assistant coach in May 2018.
Under Jones' tutelage, Richmond Aririguzoh was named NABC Second Team All-District and First Team All-Ivy League in 2020, averaging 12.0 points and 7.4 rebounds per game along with an Ivy League-best 2.9 offensive rebounds per game. Aririguzoh has since gone on to play professionally, first for Horsens IC in Denmark, and then HARKO Merlins Crailshem in Germany.
Jones' role working with the Tigers' big men saw dividends immediately, as Aririguzoh earned second-team All-Ivy League honors in 2019, averaging 12.1 points a game after averaging 2.3 over his first two seasons and pulling down 6.4 rebounds a game after grabbing 1.5 a game over his first two seasons. Aririguzoh also improved to a .758 free throw shooter as a junior after hitting at a .447 clip over his first two seasons and posted the second-best single-season field goal percentage in program history of anyone with at least 150 attempts, at .693.
The Tigers finished the 2022 regular season 22-5 and 12-2 in conference on their way to securing the Ivy League Championship. Jones also helped guide the Tigers to four new team records; most points in a season (2395), most points per game in a season (79.8), most field goals made in a season (910), and most three-point field goals made in a season (327). Additionally, the Tigers ranked fourth in the nation in Effective field goal percentage (56.7%), fifth in three-point field goals per game (10.9), fifth in three-point field goal percentage (38.7%), ninth in assist/turnover ratio (1.53), 11th in scoring offense (79.8), and 14th in total three-point field goals made (327).
The 2022 season also earned the Tigers numerous individual accolades: Junior forward Tosan Evbuomwan was named Ivy League Player of the Year, 1st Team All-Ivy, and to the Ivy League All-Tournament Team. Senior Jaelin Llewellyn was named 1st Team All-Ivy, Senior Ethan Wright was named 2nd Team All-Ivy, and Senior Drew Friberg was named to the All-Ivy Academic Team. Jones played a major role in their development.
"I am thrilled with the addition of Jonathan to our staff," Mitch Henderson, the Franklin C. Cappon-Edward G. Green '40 head coach of Princeton men's basketball, said upon Jones' hiring. "We look forward to having him share with our players the habits and growth that took place for him to develop into a collegiate All-American and successful pro. He is high-character and high-energy on and off the court, and we look forward to welcoming another leader with those values into our culture."
A Kean alum, Jones went on to play for Norway's Tromsø Storm, averaging 23 points and 15.2 rebounds per game to lead the BLNO league in points and rebounds in 2011-12 while being named Eurobasket All-Norwegian BLNO Forward of the Year, Import Player of the Year and first-team all-league. The following season, Jones played for AS Soleuvre in Luxembourg, averaging 20.3 points and 13.3 rebounds. He played for Finland's UU-Korihait in 2013-14, averaging 15.4 points and 8.4 rebounds, before moving on to Anzorena in Argentina for 2014-15, averaging 17.4 points and 10.6 rebounds.
Jones began his coaching career at Elizabeth High School as a junior-varsity coach for the 2015-16 season before moving to the Kean staff for the last two seasons as the Associate Head Coach. There, Jones worked on player development, recruited prospective student athletes, developed practice plans while maintaining focus on academic standards, organized the program's high school team summer camp, planned alumni games and functions, and edited videos for the team's social media accounts. Jones has also worked camps at Hoop Group where he focused on refining each player's outlook on the process of daily achievement.
As a senior at Kean, Jones was a 2011 first-team Division III All-America unanimous honoree, runner-up for Division III national Player of the Year, the NJAC Player of the Year, NJAC Male Athlete of the Year, a D3hoops.com first-team All-America, a D3 News first-team All-America, the D3hoops.com Atlantic Region Player of the Year, D3hoops.com first-team all-region, NABC Atlantic Region Player of the Year, first-team NABC Atlantic Region, first-team All-NJAC, ECAC Metro Region Player of the Year, and first-team All-ECAC Metro Region. A Sports Illustrated Faces in the Crowd honoree, Jones achieved 24 double-doubles, leading Division III in that statistic while finishing second in D-III with 13.7 rebounds per game and eighth in D-III with 23.9 points per game while helping Kean to an 18-8 record and an NJAC South Division title under coach Rob Kurzinsky.
Jones' mother Desiree is a National Board Certified Teacher in Newark, N.J. and father Nathan has worked for NJ Transit for more than 30 years. He also has three older siblings Nathaniel, Jason and Nicholas.
Under Jones' tutelage, Richmond Aririguzoh was named NABC Second Team All-District and First Team All-Ivy League in 2020, averaging 12.0 points and 7.4 rebounds per game along with an Ivy League-best 2.9 offensive rebounds per game. Aririguzoh has since gone on to play professionally, first for Horsens IC in Denmark, and then HARKO Merlins Crailshem in Germany.
Jones' role working with the Tigers' big men saw dividends immediately, as Aririguzoh earned second-team All-Ivy League honors in 2019, averaging 12.1 points a game after averaging 2.3 over his first two seasons and pulling down 6.4 rebounds a game after grabbing 1.5 a game over his first two seasons. Aririguzoh also improved to a .758 free throw shooter as a junior after hitting at a .447 clip over his first two seasons and posted the second-best single-season field goal percentage in program history of anyone with at least 150 attempts, at .693.
The Tigers finished the 2022 regular season 22-5 and 12-2 in conference on their way to securing the Ivy League Championship. Jones also helped guide the Tigers to four new team records; most points in a season (2395), most points per game in a season (79.8), most field goals made in a season (910), and most three-point field goals made in a season (327). Additionally, the Tigers ranked fourth in the nation in Effective field goal percentage (56.7%), fifth in three-point field goals per game (10.9), fifth in three-point field goal percentage (38.7%), ninth in assist/turnover ratio (1.53), 11th in scoring offense (79.8), and 14th in total three-point field goals made (327).
The 2022 season also earned the Tigers numerous individual accolades: Junior forward Tosan Evbuomwan was named Ivy League Player of the Year, 1st Team All-Ivy, and to the Ivy League All-Tournament Team. Senior Jaelin Llewellyn was named 1st Team All-Ivy, Senior Ethan Wright was named 2nd Team All-Ivy, and Senior Drew Friberg was named to the All-Ivy Academic Team. Jones played a major role in their development.
"I am thrilled with the addition of Jonathan to our staff," Mitch Henderson, the Franklin C. Cappon-Edward G. Green '40 head coach of Princeton men's basketball, said upon Jones' hiring. "We look forward to having him share with our players the habits and growth that took place for him to develop into a collegiate All-American and successful pro. He is high-character and high-energy on and off the court, and we look forward to welcoming another leader with those values into our culture."
A Kean alum, Jones went on to play for Norway's Tromsø Storm, averaging 23 points and 15.2 rebounds per game to lead the BLNO league in points and rebounds in 2011-12 while being named Eurobasket All-Norwegian BLNO Forward of the Year, Import Player of the Year and first-team all-league. The following season, Jones played for AS Soleuvre in Luxembourg, averaging 20.3 points and 13.3 rebounds. He played for Finland's UU-Korihait in 2013-14, averaging 15.4 points and 8.4 rebounds, before moving on to Anzorena in Argentina for 2014-15, averaging 17.4 points and 10.6 rebounds.
Jones began his coaching career at Elizabeth High School as a junior-varsity coach for the 2015-16 season before moving to the Kean staff for the last two seasons as the Associate Head Coach. There, Jones worked on player development, recruited prospective student athletes, developed practice plans while maintaining focus on academic standards, organized the program's high school team summer camp, planned alumni games and functions, and edited videos for the team's social media accounts. Jones has also worked camps at Hoop Group where he focused on refining each player's outlook on the process of daily achievement.
As a senior at Kean, Jones was a 2011 first-team Division III All-America unanimous honoree, runner-up for Division III national Player of the Year, the NJAC Player of the Year, NJAC Male Athlete of the Year, a D3hoops.com first-team All-America, a D3 News first-team All-America, the D3hoops.com Atlantic Region Player of the Year, D3hoops.com first-team all-region, NABC Atlantic Region Player of the Year, first-team NABC Atlantic Region, first-team All-NJAC, ECAC Metro Region Player of the Year, and first-team All-ECAC Metro Region. A Sports Illustrated Faces in the Crowd honoree, Jones achieved 24 double-doubles, leading Division III in that statistic while finishing second in D-III with 13.7 rebounds per game and eighth in D-III with 23.9 points per game while helping Kean to an 18-8 record and an NJAC South Division title under coach Rob Kurzinsky.
Jones' mother Desiree is a National Board Certified Teacher in Newark, N.J. and father Nathan has worked for NJ Transit for more than 30 years. He also has three older siblings Nathaniel, Jason and Nicholas.
| Year | School | Overall | Conference |
| 2018-19 | Princeton | 16-12 | 8-6/3rd Ivy |
| 2019-20 | Princeton | 14-13 | 9-5/3rd Ivy |
| 2021-22 | Princeton | 22-5 | 12-2 |
| Total at Princeton | 52-30 | 29-13 |
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