Holland: Jones Had No Choice but to Resign

Jeff Jones resigned as basketball coach at Virginia rather than be fired, Athletic Director Terry Holland said Monday, adding that the state of the program left him with no alternative.

“All athletic programs are built on hope and the future and the ability to sell that future,” Holland said. “And at this stage, we saw we could not do that any longer.”

The Cavaliers, coming off their worst season in 35 years, have been in decline since two freshmen were arrested on shoplifting charges in 1995. Holland said Jones has to be held accountable for the impact of off-court problems on the school’s image and recruiting.

“We don’t expect our coaches to be able to live the life of their players,” Holland said. “But the number of incidents and their impact on the program certainly was a factor.

Holland added that he encouraged Jones to resign before the season and take and administrative job. “To his credit, Jeff said ‘This is my mess, and I’m going to coach this team if you’ll let me,’ ” Holland said.

Holland said an NCAA investigation into possible recruiting violations had nothing to do with his decision, and said the school’s $600,000 buyout of Jones’ contract illustrated that point.

Jones resigned Sunday, 10 days after his Cavaliers lost to Duke in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament. Virginia was 11-19, its highest loss total since the 1962-63 team went 5-20.

Jones did not attend the news conference, and no one answered the telephone at his Charlottesville home.

*

Howard University fired coach Mike McLeese after the Bisons had their fourth consecutive losing season.

Howard finished the season with an 8-20 record. The team has a 31-78 record in McLeese’s four years with the team.

*

Doug Oliver, an assistant under Stanford’s Mike Montgomery for 12 years, was named coach at Idaho State University.