“I think the most important thing for us was he was coming to us with an understanding of the term ‘student-athlete’. He gets it. He spent a long time toiling at Columbia and understands how hard you have to work to get a high-quality student-athlete to come to a place like that. You’re looking for a different kind of a kid, and I think that’s what we’re trying to do at BU. We’re trying to be as great as we can in the classroom as we are on the court.’’
A former assistant to Wright at Hofstra (1994-97), Jones helped recruit Speedy Claxton and Norman Richardson. He then worked six seasons at Villanova (1997-2003), the first four under Steve Lappas and the last two under Wright, developing a reputation as a strong recruiter by helping the Wildcats land Randy Foye, Allan Ray, Curtis Sumpter, and Jason Fraser before leaving to become head coach at Columbia in 2003.
“He just had this passion and energy and great loyalty,’’ Wright said. “Everybody loved Joe. In recruiting, he was just a magnet. Kids just loved him. They knew that he followed through. They knew from other players that if he recruited you, he stayed loyal to you and followed you throughout your career and remained a part of your life.’’
Jones revitalized Columbia’s moribund program, which had gone 2-25 overall and 0-14 in Ivy League play the year before his arrival. The Lions went 10-17 (6-8) in Jones’s first season and 86-108 during his seven-year stay.
“What Joe did at Columbia was amazing,’’ Wright marveled. “It was amazing, because I’d go up for games and the energy he created in that program, the positive excitement he created, I went up there for their senior night and the atmosphere was amazing. It was a happening, a Columbia basketball game. I remember when they beat Penn and Princeton on the same weekend and it had never been done before and he had them contending.’’
