Nike Boys Basketball Camp at Norfolk State University

The MEAC Coach of the Year in 2019 and 2021, Jones has led NSU to a .743-win percentage in league play – fifth in the nation among coaches with at least 100 games coached – and made seven postseason appearances in nine years of postseason play.

In Jones’ tenure, the Spartans have won three MEAC regular season titles and two MEAC Tournament championships. Norfolk State has appeared in the last four MEAC Tournament championship games, and five of the last six.

Jones led Norfolk State to the MEAC Final in 2023, finishing the year with a 22-11 overall record. The Spartans went 9-5 in conference play, earning the No. 3 seed in the MEAC Tournament. NSU defeated No. 6 seed Coppin State 73-56 in the quarterfinal round and won an overtime thriller 72-65 over North Carolina Central the next day to earn an appearance in the championship game. The Spartans nearly pulled off a third victory in three days, falling 65-64 to Howard in the title bout.

During the 2022-23 season, Norfolk State shined on some of the brightest stages, winning multiple games at showcase events. The Spartans defeated Alabama A&M 89-83 at the ATL Has Something to Say HBCU Challenge (Atlanta, Ga.), before besting Hampton 78-66 and North Carolina A&T (70-66) in the Boost Mobile HBCU Challenge Hosted by Chris Paul (Las Vegas, Nev.). NSU beat Hampton a second time 83-71 on Feb. 4 for the Invesco QQQ Legacy Classic (Newark, N.J.), hosted by Michael B. Jordan.

CollegeInsider.com named Jones a finalist for the 2022-23 Ben Jobe National Coach of the Year and Skip Prosser Man of the Year awards. He was also selected to coach the 2^nd Annual “Classic for Columbus” Basketball All-Star Game & Extravaganza, an all-star event that two of his players participated in as well (Bryant and Bankston).

Jones earned MEAC Coach of the Year honors for the second time of his career in 2022 as he led the Spartans to a MEAC regular season title with a 12-2 conference record. The team finished 24-7 overall, its winningest season since the 2011-12 campaign, defeating Coppin State 72-57 in the MEAC Championship to clinch a berth in the NCAA Tournament. Jones was named MEAC Tournament Most Outstanding Coach for the second consecutive year.

In addition to his MEAC accolades, Jones was named the Ben Jobe HBCU Division I Coach of the Year and BOXTOROW Co-Coach of the Year, and was presented the College Insider Hugh Durham Award, presented annually to the top Division I mid-major coach in college basketball. He was also selected as the head coach of Team McLendon at the inaugural HBCU All-Star Game, leading the squad to a 79-75 victory.

Jones earned his bachelor's degree in business management from New Paltz in 2002. In 2011, he was also selected to attend the NCAA’s Achieving Coaching Excellence (ACE) program, a professional development workshop for college coaches administered by the NCAA Student-Athlete Affairs department in partnership with the Black Coaches and Administrators (BCA). In 2020, Jones gave his support to ABIS, the Advancement of Blacks in Sports.

Norfolk State notched its second consecutive 20-win season in 2022-23, amassing a 22-11 overall record. Joe Bryant Jr. earned MEAC Player of the Year honors for the second straight campaign, earning First Team All-MEAC honors alongside teammate Kris Bankston. Both players were also selected to the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament (PIT) after the season’s conclusion.

NSU also averaged 75.8 points per game in 2022-23, the program’s most since 1999-2000. The Spartans led the conference in scoring average, field goal percentage, defensive field goal percentage, free throw percentage, rebounds per game, and assist/turnover ratio.

NSU repeated as MEAC champion in 2021-22, the first time in program history the Spartans won the league’s title and NCAA berth in consecutive years. Led by MEAC Player of the Year Bryant and a total of three All-MEAC selections (first-teamer Bryant, second-teamer Bankston and third-teamer Jalen Hawkins), the Spartans posted the best-ever start to a season for a MEAC team in the league’s Division I era, at 9-1.

NSU logged a 12-2 MEAC mark in 2021-22, winning the outright MEAC regular-season title. The Spartans clinched the regular-season championship in dominant fashion, defeating North Carolina Central 75-46 at Echols Hall.

The Spartans captured just their second-ever MEAC title in 2021, advancing to the NCAA Tournament where they defeated Appalachian State in the First Four. It marked the program’s second tournament win ever, the only current school in the league that can make that claim.

NSU also won a share of the MEAC Northern Division regular season title in 2020-21 at 8-4, the first Spartan team to win both a regular season and tournament title in the same year. The Spartans were named the HBCU Large School National Champion by the Black College Sports Network (BCSN).

NSU captured a regular season title in 2018-19 at 14-2, just the second ever for the program since joining the league in 1997. The Spartans earned the league’s automatic bid to the NIT, upsetting No. 1 seed Alabama in the first round. They also went 22-14 overall, the second-most wins for the program in its Division I era.

A total of five players earned All-MEAC honors in 2019, including guards Nic Thomas and Derrik Jamerson Jr. (second team), guard Steven Whitley and forward Jordan Butler (third team) and guard C.J. Kelly (all-rookie team). For the second straight year, the program set the overall school record for 3-pointers and the D-I record for 3-point field goal percentage, the latter a mark the program broke yet again in 2020-21. NSU also scored its most points per game (73.7) in 19 years during the 2018-19 campaign.

NSU followed that up by finishing in a tie for second in the MEAC in 2019-20 at 12-4. The Spartans secured their third non-losing season in four seasons with Brown on the bench when COVID-19 shut down the season before NSU’s first game in the MEAC Tournament. Nevertheless, Jermaine Bishop (first team), Whitley (third team) and Tyrese Jenkins (all-rookie team) garnered All-MEAC honors that year. Devante Carter (second team) and Joe Bryant Jr. (third team) captured all-conference honors in 2020-21.

NSU made its fourth-ever MEAC Championship title game appearance in 2019 and the second with Brown on the bench along with his first season in 2017. That 2016-17 campaign, the Spartans finished second in the MEAC regular season standings at 12-4. They also made their sixth straight postseason appearance after competing in the CollegeInsider.com Tournament.

Norfolk State posted a 10-game win streak during the middle of conference play, the second-longest win streak in the program’s D-I era. Guard Jonathan Wade earned first-team All-MEAC honors, and guard Zaynah Robinson earned a spot on the second team.

The Spartans followed that up by going 11-5 and tying for fourth place in the MEAC regular season standings in 2017-18 in Brown’s second season, finishing one game out of first place. NSU owns a 78-26 record (75.0 percent) in the MEAC since Brown joined the coaching staff, 132-91 overall.

In addition to his on-court responsibilities with the Spartans, Brown serves as the program’s recruiting coordinator, handles scheduling and team travel, and co-coordinates the team’s summer camps.

Prior to joining NSU, he spent a season as an assistant coach at MEAC rival North Carolina A&T in 2015-16 under head coaches Cy Alexander and interim coach Jay Joyner. The Aggies rallied late in the year to finish tied for sixth in the 13-team MEAC. Brown mentored the team’s post players, including third-team All-MEAC honoree Bruce Beckford.

Before joining N.C. A&T, Brown spent one year as an assistant coach at Winston-Salem State in 2013-14. The Rams finished 18-11 that year, including 11-5 in the CIAA, and advanced to the conference championship game.

The 2023-24 season will mark his 21st year coaching in the league and his 25th season overall as a coach. His familiarity with the MEAC also includes a five-year stint as the associate head coach under Frankie Allen at UMES from 2008-13.

Brown was directly responsible for recruiting and academics during his time with the Hawks. The team achieved a 3.0 GPA and an APR score of 1,000 under his guidance. He also recruited three All-MEAC players and three All-Rookie Team honorees. While at UMES, he was selected to attend the ACE Program for Minority Coaches in 2013.

His coaching career began at his alma mater South Carolina State, where he served as an assistant coach under Alexander for six seasons from 1997-03. While there, the Bulldogs had one of the most successful runs in MEAC history, playing in five tournament championship games in six seasons and claiming conference titles in 1998, 2000 and ’03.

Brown was the associate head coach under Alexander at Tennessee State from 2003-06. While there, he served as the top assistant coach and recruiting coordinator and was instrumental in the program signing several future all-conference players. The Tigers also improved their win total by seven between Brown’s first and second years there.

He left Tennessee State to assume the head coach position at South Carolina State for one season in 2006-07. The Bulldogs finished tied for third in the MEAC standings that year, and the team’s GPA improved from 1.9 in the year before he arrived to 2.5 under Brown.

He graduated from South Carolina State University in 1997 with a degree in business marketing. While there, he was a member of the Bulldogs’ MEAC Championship team in 1996 that also shared the regular-season title at 14-2.

A native of North Charleston, South Carolina, Brown and his wife Jennifer have three children, Gilbert Jamal Brown II (21), Grant Carter Brown (7) and Irena St. John Brown (5). Gilbert II is a junior on the NSU men’s basketball team.

The elder Brown is an active member of the Black Coaches and Administrators (BCA) and Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc.

Norfolk State notched its second consecutive 20-win season in 2022-23, amassing a 22-11 overall record. Joe Bryant Jr. earned MEAC Player of the Year honors for the second straight campaign, earning First Team All-MEAC honors alongside teammate Kris Bankston. Both players were also selected to the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament (PIT) after the season’s conclusion.

NSU also averaged 75.8 points per game in 2022-23, the program’s most since 1999-2000. The Spartans led the conference in scoring average, field goal percentage, defensive field goal percentage, free throw percentage, rebounds per game, and assist/turnover ratio.

NSU repeated as MEAC champion in 2021-22, the first time in program history the Spartans won the league’s title and NCAA berth in consecutive years. Led by MEAC Player of the Year Bryant and a total of three All-MEAC selections (Bryant, second-teamer Bankston and third-teamer Jalen Hawkins), the Spartans posted the best-ever start to a season for a MEAC team in the league’s Division I era, at 9-1.

NSU logged a 12-2 MEAC mark in 2021-22, winning the outright MEAC regular-season title. The Spartans clinched the regular-season championship in dominant fashion, defeating North Carolina Central 75-46 at Echols Hall.

In 2020-21, NSU won its second-ever MEAC title, advancing to the 2021 NCAA Tournament where the Spartans beat Appalachian State in the First Four. It marked the program’s second tournament win ever, the only current school in the league that can make that claim.

In addition to winning the tournament title, NSU also won a share of the MEAC Northern Division regular season title at 8-4, in the process becoming the first Spartan team to win both a regular season and tournament title in the same year. The Spartans were named the HBCU Large School National Champion by the Black College Sports Network (BCSN) at the end of the year.

The program has gone 90-30 (75.0 percent) in the MEAC and 149-108 overall during Clemons’ time on the bench, including a .500 or better overall record in seven of his eight seasons. The Spartans have finished no worse than tied for fourth in the league standings during that time.

They captured their second-ever MEAC regular season championship after finishing 14-2 in the league in 2018-19. They went 22-14 overall for their second-most wins since moving to Division I. The program capped off Clemons’ fourth year as an assistant by knocking off No. 1 seed Alabama in the NIT first round.

The following season, the Spartans tied for second in the MEAC standings at 12-4. The 2019-20 campaign was cut short before NSU’s first game in the MEAC Tournament due to COVID-19.

Norfolk State has made five postseason appearances in Clemons’ seven years with the program that postseason has been played. It finished 12-4 and in second place in the MEAC regular season standings in each of his first two years in 2015-16 and 2016-17. The Spartans advanced to the MEAC Championship title game in 2017 and then again in 2019, 2021, 2022, and 2023.

In addition to his coaching responsibilities, Clemons’ other duties include serving as the liaison for the athletics compliance department, running the program’s summer camps, fundraising, and serving as the liaison for local recruiting.

A local native and Norfolk State graduate, Clemons joined NSU after spending two seasons as the head coach at Bryant & Stratton during its first two years as a program. He led the Bobcats, a Division II member of the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA), to a two-year record of 38-16 from 2013-15.

Bryant & Stratton advanced to the NJCAA Region 10 semifinals in 2015 on the way to finishing No. 13 in the nation in the D-II NJCAA rankings. Clemons earned the Region 10 Coach of the Year award, and the Bobcats had three players earn all-conference honors. The Bobcats scored slightly more than 78 points per game in 2014-15.

Before joining Bryant & Stratton, Clemons spent five seasons as the junior varsity head coach and assistant varsity coach at Booker T. Washington HS in Norfolk from 2008-13.

Prior to his start with NSU, he coached with the Boo Williams 17 and under AAU team from 2009-15, including the final three years as the head coach. He led the squad to a sixth-place finish at the 2013 AAU Division I National Championship.

Clemons also coached with the S.M.A.R.T. Athletes Basketball Camp, run by former Spartan Kyle O’Quinn, from 2012-15.

Clemons graduated from NSU in the spring of 2005 with a bachelor’s degree in interdisciplinary studies. He attended Salem High School in Virginia Beach.

Norfolk State notched its second consecutive 20-win season in 2022-23, amassing a 22-11 overall record. Joe Bryant Jr. earned MEAC Player of the Year honors for the second straight campaign, earning First Team All-MEAC honors alongside teammate Kris Bankston. Both players were also selected to the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament (PIT) after the season’s conclusion.

NSU also averaged 75.8 points per game in 2022-23, the program’s most since 1999-2000. The Spartans led the conference in scoring average, field goal percentage, defensive field goal percentage, free throw percentage, rebounds per game, and assist/turnover ratio.

NSU repeated as MEAC champion in 2021-22, the first time in program history the Spartans won the league’s title and NCAA berth in consecutive years. Led by MEAC Player of the Year Bryant and a total of three All-MEAC selections (first-teamer Bryant, second-teamer Bankston and third-teamer Jalen Hawkins), the Spartans posted the best-ever start to a season for a MEAC team in the league’s Division I era, at 9-1.

NSU logged a 12-2 MEAC mark in 2021-22, winning the outright MEAC regular-season title. The Spartans clinched the regular-season championship in dominant fashion, defeating North Carolina Central 75-46 at Echols Hall.

The 2020-21 team won a share of the MEAC Northern Division title at 8-4 before going on to capture the MEAC Championship, just the second ever for the program. NSU defeated Appalachian State in the NCAA Tournament First Four, in the process becoming the only current member of the MEAC to win a second NCAA Tournament game.

The Spartans also became the first NSU team to win both the MEAC regular season and tournament titles in the same year. They were later named the HBCU Large School National Champion by the Black College Sports Network (BCSN).

An NSU grad, Fairley held the title of interim assistant coach during his first year in 2018-19. The Spartans captured the MEAC regular-season title that season at 14-2, their second ever since joining the league in 1997. He has been involved with the program during all five of its MEAC titles, including a postseason championship in 2011-12 and a regular-season title in 2012-13.

The Spartans went 22-14 overall in his first season as an assistant coach, the second most wins in their Division I era. Win No. 22 came against Alabama in the NIT first round, when the Spartans knocked off the No. 1 seed Crimson Tide after earning the MEAC’s automatic bid to the tournament.

In Fairley’s second year in 2019-20, NSU finished in a tie for second in the MEAC at 12-4. The season was shut down prior to NSU’s first game in the MEAC Tournament due to COVID-19. The Spartans are now 101-55 overall and 55-17 in the MEAC during his first five years with the program.

A total of five players earned All-MEAC status in 2018-19 in Nic Thomas and Derrik Jamerson Jr. (second team), Steven Whitley and Jordan Butler (third team) and C.J. Kelly (all-rookie team). Jermaine Bishop (first team), Whitley (third team) and Tyrese Jenkins (all-rookie team) gave the program three more All-MEAC honors in 2019-20. The Spartans then followed that up with two more in 2020-21 in Devante Carter (second team) and Joe Bryant Jr. (third team).

Fairley served as a student manager at NSU for three seasons from 2011-2014, assisting coaches with practices, video recording, film exchange, and travel and equipment. He was part of a Spartan program that won the MEAC tournament title in 2012 and the MEAC regular-season championship in 2013, advancing to the NCAA Tournament and NIT, respectively.

For four seasons from 2014-18, Fairley continued to volunteer with the program. He oversaw other student managers and video and film exchange while continuing to assist with practice, travel and equipment on a weekly basis. He also worked NSU’s summer camps and served as a bench assistant during games, both home and away, charting various plays and statistics for the coaching staff.

Fairley received his bachelor’s degree in journalism from Norfolk State in December of 2017.

Norfolk State notched its second consecutive 20-win season in 2022-23, amassing a 22-11 overall record. Joe Bryant Jr. earned MEAC Player of the Year honors for the second straight campaign, earning First Team All-MEAC honors alongside teammate Kris Bankston. Both players were also selected to the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament (PIT) after the season’s conclusion.

In his first year of the position, Whitley helped lead the Spartans through a historic season. The team compiled a 24-7 record, the highest win percentage (77.4) in the program’s Division I history, going 12-2 in the MEAC to take the regular season title. The Spartans won the MEAC Tournament Championship for a second consecutive year, earning another berth in the NCAA Tournament.

Led by MEAC Player of the Year Bryant and a total of three All-MEAC selections (first-teamer Bryant, second-teamer Bankston and third-teamer Jalen Hawkins), NSU posted the best-ever start to a season for a MEAC team in the league’s Division I era, at 9-1.

Prior to joining the Norfolk State coaching staff, Whitley enjoyed a distinguished playing career at NSU. He joined the 1,000-point club despite playing just three seasons with the program, after starting his career at Robert Morris.

Whitley earned third-team All-MEAC honors in both his redshirt junior and redshirt senior seasons, leading the Spartans to a 14-2 conference record in the former. He averaged 10.1 points, 5.2 rebounds, a team-best 3.2 assists and 1.5 steals per game in his final year and helped lead the Spartans to an 80-79 overtime upset over Alabama in the NIT First Round as a redshirt junior.
In his first season at NSU, Whitley was named Team MVP after averaging a team-best 12.2 points, 4.7 assists and 1.6 steals per contest. He recorded a career-high 27 points against Hampton, shooting 12-of-16 (75 percent) from the field and dishing four assists.

Whitley graduated from Norfolk State in 2020 with a bachelor’s degree in business management