Sept. 15, 2011
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By Doug Richards
UCFAthletics.com
OVIEDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - As the head coach of the UCF men's basketball program, Donnie Jones offers encouragement to his student-athletes each and every day. On Thursday, Jones provided inspiration to another important group when he spoke to fathers and students at Lawton Elementary in Oviedo.
Jones, who is in his second year at UCF, participated in an All Pro Dad event organized by the Lawton Elementary PTA. All Pro Dad is a program that helps men become better fathers through encouragement, ideas and information.
Jones and his wife Michelle have three children: Madisyn, Isaac and Sophie.
During Thursday's event, Jones offered advice on time management, goal setting and patience among other topics for the fathers in attendance.
"Being a father is the most important job there is," Jones said. "It is great to have the chance to speak to a group of fathers and offer any kind of encouragement that I can."
Jones has made sure that his children are a part of the UCF basketball program. His family recently accompanied the Knights on their three-game tour of Canada in August, and are also fixtures at practices and every home game at the UCF Arena.
Jones' Knights will open the 2011-12 campaign on Nov. 12. UCF is coming off one of the most impressive campaigns in program history. Last season, the Knights won 21 games, registered impressive wins over No. 16 Florida, Miami and USF, entered the national rankings for the first time and participated in the postseason College Basketball Invitational.
Order your season tickets today by calling (407) UCF-1000 or visit UCFAthletics.com. The Knights will play 17 regular-season games at the UCF Arena this year. UCF returns two of the top players in Conference USA in juniors Marcus Jordan (Chicago, Ill.) and Keith Clanton (Orlando, Fla.).