Jones leaving for BC

Columbia basketball head coach Joe Jones announced today that he will be leaving to become associate head coach at Boston College under former Cornell head coach Steve Donahue, putting an end to a week of speculation.

"We are extremely grateful for all of Joe’s hard work on behalf of Columbia and our men’s basketball team over the past seven years," athletic director M. Dianne Murphy said. "His commitment to Columbia, the men’s basketball team and our student-athletes made a tremendous impact. Our men’s basketball program is in much better shape now than when he first arrived, and for that we are very thankful."

Jones will be joining Nat Graham, Donahue’s assistant at Cornell, and John Gallagher, an assistant at Penn, on Donahue’s staff.

Jones has been at the helm of the men’s basketball program for seven seasons. He took over a team that went 2-25 overall and 0-14 in the Ivy League in April of 2003. During his first season as head coach—the 2003-2004 season—the Light Blue went 10-17 overall and 6-8 in Ivy play.

"I am truly grateful for my time here at Columbia," Jones said. "I loved it here. I’d like to thank Dianne Murphy and the administration for all their support. I’m so proud of all of my Columbia teams and I know Columbia will be successful in years to come.”

Jones has led the Lions to three straight 7-7 seasons in conference play—from 2006-2009. However, this past season, Columbia finished 5-9 in the Ancient Eight, which was good enough to tie for fifth.

We will be updating the story as we get more information.