University of San Francisco Athletics

SAN FRANCISCO — From an early beginning with the game as a child, to a national championship-caliber assistant coach and head coach, San Francisco women's basketball associate head coach Janell Jones is imparting her deep basketball knowledge on the young Dons program every day.
 
In this week's spotlight on Jones, she talks about how basketball became a part of her life, and how she turned that into a national championship career as an assistant and head coach. Jones speaks about how she and the Dons' staff is working on impressing that successful mentality on today's team.


 
Everywhere Jones has gone, her teams have found success. Her national championship experience comes from her time at Oklahoma City University, where she guided the Stars to back-to-back NAIA national championships in 2001 and '02 while receiving the organization's National Coach of the Year award in both seasons. She was also part of the OCU staff as an assistant when the Stars won national titles in 1999 and 2000.
 
Jones has also proven a knack for turning once-struggling programs into winners once she arrives. Jones turned around a Cal State LA program that had one winning season in the previous 10 years, leading the Golden Eagles to a program record-tying 21 wins n 2012-13 and back-to-back winning seasons in '11-'12 and '12-'13. Jones also turned around Mercer University's program from 2007-10, taking the Bears from a five-win season to a 17-14 record in 2008-09, just her second season on campus.
 
This weekend, Jones and the Dons return home on Thursday and Saturday to host Pepperdine and Loyola Marymount, respectively. Fans can purchase tickets and find all live coverage links on USFDons.com.