March 30, 2010
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By John Denton
UCFAthletics.com
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ORLANDO (UCFAthletics.com) - Not long after UCF Athletics Director Keith Tribble left his first meeting with Donnie Jones he knew right away that he wanted the personable and highly organized West Virginia native to be the next coach of the Knights.
After all, Jones had come to that meeting with a detailed plan of how he would go about building a winning basketball program at UCF. The ``blueprint for success,'' as Tribble called it, included six-month, one-year and five-year benchmarks for the program. It talked about ways he would go about stepping up the recruitment of top-level talent and better involving the Orlando community in the UCF basketball program. And needless to say, Tribble came away very impressed by Jones' plan for success.
``I went back from that meeting and said, `Wow, this is our guy,''' Tribble said. ``After I met with him, I began to read his book. I liked what I saw because it was a philosophy that engages not only himself, but his staff, the community and the players into believing that you could win. And it was important that he wanted to be here because this is a place he feels he could win a championship. I just felt that we'd be crazy to not give him the opportunity to do that here at UCF.''
Jones, 43, got that opportunity to coach at UCF and today at 2 p.m. at UCF Arena he will be formally introduced as the Knights' newest coach. Fans are invited to the ceremony where Jones will be introduced and will meet the media. He is also scheduled to throw out the first pitch before the UCF-Bethune-Cookman baseball game.
Jones replaces Kirk Speraw, who was let go two weeks ago after 279 wins and 17 seasons with the UCF basketball program. In those two weeks, Tribble said he interviewed 14 potential coaching candidates and eventually narrowed that list to three coaches. That group interviewed with UCF President Dr. John C. Hitt and Tribble, before Jones was chosen as the person to lead the basketball program into the foreseeable future.
``It was important for us to (interview a wide array of coaches) to get the best sense of who would make the best fit for us,'' Tribble said. ``It's about fit and not about how big a star he is or what he's done here or there. That's important, but when you are getting somebody who has great vision, work ethic and morals and integrity and can recruit and coach the game, that's when you know you have somebody special.''
Jones had become a rising coaching star in Conference USA after building Marshall into a powerhouse program this past season. Jones learned how to become a relentless recruiter during his 11 seasons at the University of Florida as an assistant coach, and he used those skills at Marshall. His team this past season included five players from Florida and the Herd went 24-10, Marshall's best record in more than 20 years.
Now, Jones is eager to build strong bonds with the high school and AAU coaches in the state of Florida and work to rebuild UCF's talent base. He said he already has a list of top talent he wants to get involved with in recruiting and he plans to spend the summer driving the state and visiting with Florida prep coaches.
``I bet I've had 30 or 40 calls from high school coaches and AAU guys starting (Sunday) night,'' Jones said with a chuckle. ``I want to hurry up and call them all back. It will be like a homecoming to see a lot of those (coaches) who we had on our campus for years at Florida. I've been in a lot of their gyms and spent time with them. We need to do a good job with our in-state recruiting No. 1. And with UCF in Orlando, you can recruit nationally and internationally as well. I can't wait to get started.''
That enthusiasm certainly sold Tribble on Jones' potential as the Knights next coach. He liked that Jones was an aggressive, prepared recruiter who didn't back away from a challenge and also that he turned around the losing culture at Marshall. Tribble said that Jones' warm, welcoming persona will make recruits and fans alike want to embrace the UCF basketball program again.
``When you meet him he's engaging and you can see where he's built the trust with potential student-athletes but also coaches and families,'' Tribble said. ``That's an important factor when you are recruiting. It's also a factor when you are trying to reach the fanbase to get them to be more supportive and buy in to what you are trying to do. I think he'll just be fantastic here.''
Tribble said he considered Jones to be ``a real get for us,'' especially being able to lure him away from his home state and away from a rival team in Conference USA. Tribble informed UCF's players of the new hire on Monday and said the players were ``curiously anxious to find out about him'' after playing against Jones' Marshall teams the past three seasons.
In the end, Tribble feels that Jones' energy, recruiting skills and coaching acumen will help UCF's basketball program reach its enormous potential.
``During the whole conversation with Donnie and other coaches, they just couldn't stop talking about the facilities and the potential that's here for us to have a great basketball program,'' Tribble said. ``I agree with that and that's why I thought that it was time for us to make the next step and the next move.
``Anytime you have a situation with a long-time coach who has been here, you are going to have people who said they have supported (that coach) and they take a wait-and-see attitude,'' Tribble continued. ``But I think they will find out with Donnie that they will see a guy who really cares about this community and they will be fans of UCF basketball again.''
John Denton's Knights Insider appears on UCFatheltics.com several times a week. E-mail John at jdenton@athletics.ucf.edu.