Taylor Jones hired as new UJ men's hoops assistant coach

May 22—JAMESTOWN — After the departure of assistant coach Tyler Peterson, University of Jamestown men's basketball head coach Danny Neville hired a familiar face to replace him in Taylor Jones.

Jones was previously on Neville's staff during the 2018-19 season as an assistant coach.

"(They are an) excellent program, he's a great coach, great mentor, great friend," Jones said. "I know what kind of guys he has in his program, guys that are dedicated to being great basketball players. I enjoy the type of culture and that's something that Coach Neville has worked to instill and maintain."

Jones comes to the Jimmies program after two seasons at Saint Xavier University in Illinois. During the 18-19 season, the Jimmies went 29-6, making it all the way to the Sweet 16. Jones said it helps him a lot to have previously been in the program because he knows how Neville works and what his expectations are for his players and his staff.

"I don't think the culture has changed much since when I've been there the first time to now," Jones said. "I think being around that and watching some of those great players and being able to talk about Kevin Oberweiser and Jon Purintun to some of these guys and how they can relate their game to them or things that they can do to learn from them and showing them and talking them through how they went about their business. I know the goals that we have set for the program."

Neville said his first call when Peterson told him that he was leaving was to Jones and the interview process was simply asking Jones if he wanted the job. Jones said he is extremely excited to get to town and get to work with the players.

"He's one of my good friends and he's really, really good with player relationships," Neville said. "So, for me, it was a no-brainer."

Neville said Jones checks both of the boxes that he wants in an assistant coach.

"He's a smart guy and he knows his basketball but to me, the perfect assistant coach is being good with the guys and also having a good relationship with me as well," Neville said. "I'm really comfortable with it and our guys will be the same."

Despite the Jimmies roster completely turning over from Jones' previous stop with the team, he is familiar with two players on the current roster as he coached rising junior Jimmy Llinas when the two were with the Cougars, and he recruited rising senior Cole Woodford during his previous time with the Jimmies.

"I built a really good relationship with Cole when I was recruiting him back in 2018-2019 and I'm excited to work with him again," Jones said. "He's had a great career there and I'll be happy to play a small role in that and be around him and try to develop him a little bit more. Jimmy, I think that we didn't want him to leave Saint Xavier, that's how much talent he has and potential. I'm really excited to be around him again, I know he loves basketball and loves to work."

Jones said his goal is to be a head coach at the four-year collegiate level. Jones said he brings his ability to relate to the players and help them get better as well as his ability as a recruiter to the program.

"I've had a number of bosses that I've learned from and being able to learn from them and apply it to this job," Jones said. "I think I'm gonna be a good recruiter for potential transfer, junior college and high school prospects. Most importantly, the player relationship building, I'm pretty good at building relationships with the guys and strengthening our bond which makes the program better."

Jones, who expects to be settled here by the end of June, said he doesn't expect to be in town for very long, though, before departing to start recruiting.

"I think that we're probably going to the Great Plains Alliance in St. Cloud (Minnesota), that'll be probably one of the first things I do, which is a big recruiting event," Jones said. "I've been to the tournament before and look forward to going back. Other than that, being at everything that the guys want to do, if they're lifting in the morning, I want to be there, if they're playing in the afternoon or want to work out, I just want to be around the guys as much as I can. I just want to start building those relationships."