Robert Jones just wanted to stay close to basketball.
 
After four seasons starring for the State University of New York at New Paltz men's basketball team, landing in the program's record books for points, rebounds and blocks, the Jamaica Queens, NY native was asked to lend his expertise just up I-87 at Bard College. What was originally a volunteer position for a couple hours a week, turned into part-time position before blossoming into a full-time coaching experience that paved the way to a prolific head coaching career.
 
More than 20 years later, Jones, a 2002 graduate from SUNY New Paltz, enters his 11th season at the helm at Division I Norfolk State where he led the Spartans to unprecedented success. He's guided the team to the program's second and third ever Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) titles and two NCAA Tournament appearances including a first-four victory all while maturing into one of the most accomplished up-and-coming coaches in the country.
 
"I was just [coaching] because I loved basketball and then after a while, once I realized my formal basketball days were numbered, I just wanted to stay around the game and the easiest way to stay around the game was to be a coach," Jones said. "Once I started to be a coach and started to realize the impact of helping these kids then I started enjoying it a lot more and really strive to become the best possible coach I could be."
 
 
With all the coaching accolades Jones was awarded along the way — MEAC Coach of the Year, NABC District 15 Coach of the Year, MEAC Tournament Most Outstanding Coach, HBCU Co-Coach of the Year, Ben Jobe HBCU Division I Coach of the Year, Hugh Durham Award finalist — a phone call, brought him back to his playing days as a Hawk where his pursuit of basketball excellence started. The phone call officially cemented Jones' status as one of the best players to ever suit up for the program, becoming the 15th men's basketball player to be inducted into the SUNY New Paltz Athletics Hall of Fame.
 
Jones joins fellow inductees Dani Ackerman '16 (field hockey), Becca Borquist '16 (women's volleyball), former coach and administrator Alan Dunefsky, Lauren Motzkin '08 (softball) and Christian Smith '16 (men's volleyball), as they all will be enshrined as the 2022 class on Oct. 1.
 
"My exact words were, 'about damn time,'" said Jones of receiving the phone call that he would finally be inducted into the Hawks Hall of Fame. "We're going on 21 years and to be able to be selected at this point, I'm very grateful, but I've looked at the other inductees with the exception of Alan Dunefsky who was there when I went to school, I'm the oldest guy. It's cool, it's definitely humbling, but it just shows the edge that I have is if you're going to do something, do it to the best of your ability. To be one of the select few out of thousands of players to play at SUNY New Paltz, it just shows I was able to do it at the highest level to be recognized."
 
Like in his pursuit of becoming the best coach at the highest level, Jones had the same attitude when he started playing basketball. After not making his school's baseball team in sixth grade, he turned his focus to basketball, which soon became the epicenter of his collegiate and what turned out his post-collegiate career.
 
A star at Brooklyn Technical High School, Jones, after a few 20-point games during his junior year of high school, started thinking about playing basketball collegiately. "I had a couple 20-point games against some people who were supposed to be good. I figured if I could do it against them and they're supposed to be good, then I can play college basketball somewhere," he said. 
 
Jones had the ability to play at the Division I level, but his recruitment ultimately was hindered after he forwent playing his senior year of high school. He continued playing throughout New York City and eventually at a top-100 invitational camp he caught the eye of then SUNY New Paltz head coach Joe Kremer. Kremer brought Jones on campus and from there, his future was set to become a Hawk for the following four years.
 
"I really could have played at a higher level, but everything happens for a reason. I had a good career at New Paltz, I don't have any regrets about it," Jones reflected. 
 
The talent was apparent from day one. Jones immediately saw early minutes as a freshman before taking over starting center duties just a few games into the season from incumbent senior center Joe Nelson who appeared in 17 games for SUNY New Paltz the previous season. After breaking into the starting lineup, Jones never missed a start and ultimately played in 100 of 102 games throughout his career.
 
"That first year was cool, you know you're playing against grown men. I had a little chip of my shoulder because I felt like I should have started from Day 1, but there was another kid there, Joe Nelson. I knew I was better than him, so he might've started the first six games but after that I started the rest of my career there," Jones said. "A little lesson I can tell some of my players to not get too frustrated, be patient and everything usually works out in the end."
 
Jones led SUNY New Paltz in rebounding and blocks in three of his four seasons. He had a smooth transition to the college game, as he became an immediate presence at the hoop while also showing touch in the mid-range game and the ability to handle the basketball against bigger guys underneath. His grit and tenacity were apparent, and he continued to play that way throughout his career.
 
"I used to have an advantage playing against fives. I could cross them over, behind the backs and everything like that," he said. "Growing up in New York City, handling the ball is what everyone wanted to do, so you had to be able to handle the ball if you wanted any kind of respect.
 
"I just wanted to go out there and try to prove myself all the time. I played with a chip on my shoulder. Like I said at first, I felt like I shouldn't have even been there at Division III but if I will be, I'm going to be the best I can be. I just played with some toughness and some grit. I wasn't the highest jumping dude or anything like that, but I was tough, and I was able to have some will-power to go get rebounds and block shots. That's the way I played."
 
As a freshman during the 1997-98 season, he posted 33 blocks to rank 10th most in single season history and helped the team to 12 wins, after the program earned just seven the year prior. The following season he became an All-SUNYAC honorable mention selection and once again landed on the top-10 single season block list with 41 on the year, sixth most in single season program history.
 
The 1997-98 season became historic for the program, as Jones and the Hawks won 18 games, which still stands as the most in program history, while also claiming the team's first ever conference championship victory after hoisting the 1998 ECAC title. 
 
"We had a lot of guys that probably shouldn't have been playing Division III, which I guess is what makes a Division III team good," Jones said. "For me, I coach mid-major Division I basketball, but if I'm able to get some high major guys that makes us really good because I technically have guys who shouldn't be there. We had a couple guys who shouldn't have been at New Paltz. Keith Kenney, he shouldn't have been there, he was really good. Myself, and another kid, Demetrios Tsimis who was a really good shot-blocker, really athletic kid. He probably shouldn't have been there. So, when you add those guys to the mix you had three or four scholarship type guys on a Division III team, so that's what made us pretty good. In hindsight, we probably should have won more games really. We were able to win 18 and win the ECAC and it was all good."
 
After earning a spot in the SUNYAC Tournament semifinals the Hawks entered the ECAC Tournament, which was held in Elting Gym on the campus of SUNY New Paltz. After handily defeating Union in the quarterfinal despite not having Jones in the lineup due to the loss of his father, the Hawks cruised to a 92-80 victory over St. Lawrence. Against Alfred University in the ECAC Finals the following day, SUNY New Paltz continued its dominance in the tournament with a 96-81 win over the Saxons.
 
"It was loud and Elting, when we did have good crowds like at ECAC games, I remember those were good turnouts, so it was definitely an intimate place," Jones said of his old home floor. "I remember the whole tournament… We had played Union College and we won the game without me being there and in the semifinal game I came back, and we played St. Lawrence. That game was packed. I think I had 18 [points], 11 [rebounds] against St. Lawrence and the next game we played Alfred University for the championship… We won the game and Keith [Kenney] had a huge game. It was definitely a good victory."
 
The Hawks couldn't duplicate the same success as a team in Jones' last two seasons, but the 6-foot, 6-inch center continued to dominate in his own right on the floor. Showing his mid-range game and some distance shooting with a couple 3's as an upperclassman his junior and senior seasons, Jones led the team in scoring, while continuing his prowess as a rebounder and shot blocker. He landed fourth in single-season history with 43 blocks during the 2000-01 season and surpassed the 1,000-point threshold as well, becoming just the 12th Hawk at the time to do so.
 
Jones was a First-Team All-SUNYAC selection, along with garnering All-America honorable mention honors in 2000, before earning another All-SUNYAC honorable mention nod as a senior in 2001. He ultimately finished his career with 1,321 points, ranked ninth most all time in program history, while totaling 875 rebounds — second most in program history — and still holds the all-time career blocks record with 140 for this career. No one has come close to the latter with former teammate Tsimis the closest at 117 career blocks.
 
"Maybe the points [record], because I've never had one play ran for me. Keith Kenney could tell you that, I got all my points just playing within the offense or just maybe breaking the play. To get 1,300 points without plays being run for you is a pretty good feat," said Jones of the record he's most proud of.
 
Jones earned his bachelor's degree in 2002 from SUNY New Paltz and after spending two seasons on the Raptors staff, he returned to the Hawks as an assistant for coach Doug Pasquerella prior to the 2002-03 season before taking over as the head coach at Saint Mary's High School in Manhasset, NY. Like as a player, Jones saw immediate success as a head coach. He helped the program to back-to-back Nassau-Suffolk Catholic League title games in each of his two seasons before joining former Hawks assistant coach Anthony Evans' staff at Norfolk State in 2007.

 "You always want to strive to be the best. If you're going to be in any profession, you   always want to try to   be the best at it and maximize the potential." 

As an assistant coach with the Spartans, Jones helped the program to two postseason trips to the 2012 NCAA Tournament and 2013 NIT Tournament, respectively, before he was named as the interim head coach in 2013. The interim label was quickly removed after Jones' squad captured a regular season title following a 16-0 record while earning an automatic bid into the NIT. Since being promoted to head coach in February of 2014, the team has gone 123-104 under Jones' tenure with the Spartans earning the MEAC regular season championship in 2019, and MEAC postseason championship titles in 2021 and 2022.
 
"You always want to strive to be the best," Jones said. "If you're going to be in any profession, you always want to try to be the best at it and maximize the potential. Even sports administrators, usually want to be athletic director's if they can, so coaches wherever they start they probably want to coach Division I if they can."
 
Throughout his pursuit of coaching excellency, what has become the most rewarding part about becoming a college coach has been the development of his players, finding guys who may have a chip on their shoulder like he once had and watch them flourish as players and men.
 
"I tell people all the time, I've been fortunate enough to win a lot of games, championships individual awards and stuff, but just to see a kid come into the program, an 18-year-old kid and he leaves as a man — all the things you're able to teach them throughout that process is really rewarding," he said. "Even when you hear kids recite back words you said to them, sometimes you think these kids aren't listening but subconsciously they are and they are able to recite it back to you, and you know they were listening to you. It's just stuff like that that's rewarding when it comes to coaching."
 
Jones will have the opportunity to reflect back on his own playing days when he is enshrined Oct. 1. He expects a big turnout and is looking forward in sharing the event with his son, who has gone numb to all of the accolades and success his dad has had as of late.
 
"Maybe when he's there, he'll understand the moment a little bit more than just saying it," Jones said. "I think also for him, he's been around my whole coaching career at Norfolk State, so he's seen a lot of awards and he's been to a lot of ceremonies that I've been a part of, so I think to him he's like, ok another coach of the year award, here we go again."
 
Undoubtedly, Jones will continue to have his share of coaching accolades coming his way and even one day may even become a Hall of Fame head coach. But before then, he can include Hall of Fame player to his long list of accomplishments.
 
"I think the environment I grew up in — South Jamaica Queens. It was a tough environment," Jones said. "It is still a tough one, but it was really tough back then and to even make it out of that environment, you really need to have some resilience and some grit to you. Transitioning then to New Paltz, like I said I felt like I played with a chip on my shoulder… so when I'm coaching, even though I get a lot of national recognition and things like that there still coaches that are at perceived better programs than me, bigger programs, coaches that make a lot more money than I do, so I still kind of have that chip on my shoulder, which kind of fuels me to go out there and prove everybody wrong. Similar to how I was as a player, I still keep that attitude as a coach."

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