In April, USU Eastern filled their men’s assistant basketball coach vacancy by announcing the hire of Ray Jones Jr., formerly a Player Development Assistant for the Southern Utah Thunderbirds.
Taking the job after the roster was basically set for the upcoming season, the first task for Jones was to start the admission process for incoming players. Now just two months away from fall semester, Jones is preparing for what he does best, player development.
“We have so many different pieces, and all of the players are different,” said Jones Tuesday on KOAL’s Drive Time Sports. “Each workout will be different because each skill set is going to be different. We have shooters who love to dribble, and dribblers that love to shoot. It’s just a bunch of different pieces.”
The third lead assistant in as many seasons for the Eagles, Jones will look to bring consistency to a position that has been a revolving door as of late.
After three years in the position, former assistant Justin Brown left in the summer of 2016 to take the same position at South Plains College. Scott Fields, Brown’s replacement, left the program this past December, leaving head coach Adjalma Becheli without an assistant for the remainder of the season.
“He brings a lot of things to the table. He brings international experience and he is very motivated and positive,” said Becheli. “He can add a lot of things to our program. He is going to take care of our man to man defense and help develop our players.”
While holding his most recent position under Southern University Head Coach Todd Simon, Jones had a highly decorated playing career at multiple levels.
He began his college playing career at the junior college level. playing two years at Connors State College located in Warner, Oklahoma. While at Connors State Jones helped lead the Cowboys twice to the NJCAA National Tournament and a top five ranking as a freshman.
After completing his career at Connors State, Jones transferred to Southern Utah where he played under Head Coach Roger Reid. Jones would go on to play professionally in Germany and Slovakia before returning to Cedar City to work for the Thunderbirds.
“In junior college I had a lot of pressure on me being a freshman point guard on a team that was really good,” said Jones. “The responsibility transferred over to Southern Utah, being a leader on and off of the court. Junior college, college and playing professionally overseas kind of refined that responsibility.”
Jones noted that the growth of the athletics department in recent years adds to the excitement of joining USU Eastern. When visiting the school for the first time, the vibe and facilities sold him on the job immediately.
“I was so surprised when I came to Price for the first time. We have two weight rooms, the gym looks phenomenal,” said Jones. “It’s got a smaller Southern Utah feel around the campus. It’s really not JUCO-esq in my opinion. I was very impressed and knew this is where I wanted to work.”