This Matchup Is Yale and Hearty

Round one goes to the big brother.

Yale defeated Columbia, 63-58, Friday night in an Ivy League basketball game, giving James Jones a victory over his younger brother, Joe Jones. They were the first brothers in 44 years to coach against each other in Division I basketball.

Yale (7-11, 2-3) shot 54% in the second half to overcome a four-point halftime deficit. Columbia (6-12, 2-3) turned the ball over three times in the final two minutes and was called for an illegal screen with 11.6 seconds left.

The brothers broke into broad smiles as they hugged before tip-off and then embraced again after the game at Lee Amphitheater.

“It was weird,” Joe Jones said. “You try not to focus on it, but then you walk out to the court and see your brother. He called me last night, saying he couldn’t wait for this to just get over with, that the media was killing him. And he has an ego the size of this room, so you know it must have been getting bad.”

Said the victorious James Jones: “This was for all the times I had to drive him to school, in my 1972 Duster. He and my brother John would just stand in the doorway and watch as I shoveled snow off the top. My father made me drive them to school, because if it was up to me, I would have just left them.”

The last brothers to coach in Division I basketball against each other were Henry and Clarence Iba, whose teams played each other in the Missouri Valley Conference from the 1949-50 season through 1959-60 -- the last meeting on Dec. 15, 1959. Henry was at Oklahoma State, then known as Oklahoma A&M;, and Clarence was at Tulsa.

James Jones is in his fifth season at Yale. This is the first season for Joe at Columbia.

Their different coaching styles were evident Friday. Joe Jones, 14 months younger than James, 39, was the more active and rarely sat. James Jones was more reserved, often crouched near the bench. There always has been a bit of sibling rivalry in sports for the Jones brothers, who grew up in Long Island, N.Y., and stayed in-state for college -- James attending Albany and Joe going to Oswego.

“I was always trying to beat him when I was growing up,” Joe said this week.

Said James: “Our relationship has changed over the years. It was like a hate-hate relationship because we were so competitive. But in college we really missed each other and developed a love and mutual respect.”

When James was hired in 1999 as Yale’s first black basketball coach, Joe was at the news conference. And James lobbied on his brother’s behalf when the Columbia job opened up.

James Jones was an assistant coach at Ohio University and Albany before getting the job at Yale. He led Yale to an Ivy League title two seasons ago, its first since 1962-63. That team also advanced to the second round of the National Invitation Tournament, earning the first postseason victory in the program’s 107-year history.

Columbia is the first head coaching job for Joe Jones, previously an assistant under Jay Wright at Hofstra and Villanova.

The Jones brothers say they talk at least three times a week, catching up on family news -- each has a daughter. But the conversation is rarely about basketball.

“It’s one of those unspoken things,” James said.

Their parents were in attendance Friday.

“This has been too much,” their mother, Edna Davis, said of the attention her sons have received this week. “I always knew they’d both be successful in something, but this is fantastic. The only thing I don’t like is that one of them has to lose.”

The Jones brothers face each other again on March 6 at Columbia.

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Oh Brother!

Friday’s Columbia-Yale basketball game marked the first time in 44 years brothers faced each other as head coaches in a Division I game. Brothers who have been Division I basketball coaches simultaneously, with their schools at the time and seasons:

*--* HENRY IBA CLARENCE IBA OKLAHOMA STATE (1935-70) TULSA (1949-60)

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Henry’s Oklahoma State teams met Clarence’s Tulsa teams 20 times, with Oklahoma St. winning 16 -- including the last meeting on Dec. 15, 1959. Henry had a 767-338 record with two NCAA titles in his Hall of Fame career; Clarence was 137-147 at Tulsa.

*--* JIM VALVANO BOB VALVANO NORTH CAROLINA STATE (1981-90) ST. FRANCIS, N.Y. (1984-88)

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Jim, who died of cancer in 1993, is best remembered for North Carolina State’s stunning 54-52 victory over Houston’s Phi Slama Jama team in the 1983 NCAA championship game. Bob didn’t have a winning record in any of his four seasons at St. Francis and is now an ESPN Radio analyst.

*--* BILL HERRION TOM HERRION EAST CAROLINA (Fourth season) CHARLESTON (Second season)

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The Herrion brothers are about 5 1/2 hours apart in driving time as East Carolina is in Greenville, N.C., less than 330 miles from Charleston, S.C. Tom coaches his home games in the building named for his predecessor, John Kersee Arena.

*--* DICKEY NUTT DENNIS NUTT ARKANSAS STATE (Ninth season) TEXAS STATE (Four seasons)

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Dickey and Dennis have two brothers who are coaches. Houston, the oldest of the four, is Arkansas’ head football coach and Danny, the third-oldest, is the Razorbacks’ running back coach. Dennis is the youngest.

*--* JAMES JONES JOE JONES YALE (Fifth season) COLUMBIA (First season)

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James’ Yale team defeated his younger brother Joe’s Columbia team, 63-58, Friday in New Haven, Conn.

NOTABLE

Tom Meyer coached at Illinois Chicago from 1977-83, and his brother Joey coached at DePaul from 1984-97. Their father Ray Meyer coached at DePaul from 1943-84.