Kelly Jones

Kelly Jones is in his eighth season as the Furman head men’s tennis coach.

In 2018, the Paladins posted a 19-8 overall mark and 5-2 SoCon record. Furman reached the championship match of the SoCon tournament for the fourth time in five years, and Ivan Mitric was honored as the Southern Conference Men's Tennis Freshman of the Year, while Cameron Green and Jake Munns earned all-conference first team citations.

Jones helped Furman to a 17-8 overall record and a 6-1 SoCon mark in 2017. The Paladins, who reached the semifinals of the SoCon tournament, captured six All-SoCon citations and placed two players, Jake Munns and Clarke Wilson, on the SoCon All-Freshman Team. Cameron Green and Adam Steryous were selected to the All-SoCon first team for singles for the second-straight year, and Adam Steryous and Jake Munns represented the Paladins on the All-SoCon first team for doubles. Munns and Jake Bhangdia were named to the All-Southern Conference second team for singles.

In 2016, Furman reached the championship match of the Southern Conference tournament for the third-consecutive season. The Paladins recorded a 13-11 overall record and 5-2 league mark. Adam Steryous and Cameron Green were named to the All-Southern Conference first team for singles, while Green and Alex Steryous garnered second-team accolades for doubles, and Josh Pistorius was chosen to the SoCon All-Freshman team

Jones led the Paladins to the championship match of the Southern Conference tournament in 2015 after posing a 10-16 overall record and 6-1 SoCon mark. Jacob Behal was named to the All-Southern Conference first team for singles, while Cameron Green and Adam Steryous were honored with a first-team doubles selection. Ben Horst and Steryous were chosen to the All-SoCon second team for singles, and Green was also selected to the SoCon All-Freshman Team.

The Paladins showed much improvement in 2014 under Jones, concluding the season with a 16-9 overall record and an 8-1 league mark and finishing the regular season in second place in the Southern Conference. Furman reached the finals of the 2014 Southern Conference Championships, where the Paladins fell to top-seeded Elon, 4-1. The Paladins defeated #68 Iowa, 4-3, midseason, and went on to win eight out of the next nine matches to conclude the season, scoring 4-3 wins over Wofford and UNCG in the first two rounds of the SoCon Tournament.

Furman’s Adam Steryous was chosen SoCon Freshman of the Year after posting a 7-2 league record at flight one singles. He was also selected to the SoCon All-Freshman team and the all-conference first team. The Paladin doubles team of sophomore Matt Browne and senior Joel Cook also earned all-conference first-team accolades, while sophomore Ben Horst was chosen to the All-SoCon second team at No. 6 singles.

In 2013, Jones helped the Paladins to a 9-14 overall record and 5-5 league mark, and the team reached the quarterfinals of the SoCon Tournament for the second-consecutive season under Jones’ tutelage.

During his first season at the helm of the program, Jones led the Paladins to a 9-15-1 overall record and 5-4-1 Southern Conference mark. The team put together a four-match league winning streak mid-season and advanced to the quarterfinals of the league championship.

Jones, a native of San Diego, Calif., is among the top developmental coaches globally. Over the last decade, he has coached some of the best professional tennis players in the world, including Mardy Fish, currently the top-ranked American and No. 8 player in the world, and James Blake, who has been ranked as high as fourth world-wide. His other players include two Top 20 performers, John Isner and Xavier Malisse, along with many other Top 100 performers.

Prior to his coaching career, Jones established himself among the top professional tennis players on the ATP. In 1998, he reached the mixed doubles finals at Wimbledon, then won the ATP Tour Singapore singles championship in both 1989 and 1990. Jones attained a #1 doubles ranking on the ATP Tour in October of 1992, then went on to reach the doubles finals at the U.S. Open and the Australian Open that same year. The 1994 World Team Tennis Player of the Year, he also won the doubles championship on the ATP Tour at St. Polten in 1997.

After retiring from professional tennis in 1998, Jones spent six years as a USTA National Coach scouting, recruiting, and developing the nation’s best junior tennis players.

During his collegiate career, Jones won NCAA doubles titles in 1984 and 1985, then led Pepperdine to the finals of the NCAA Championship the following year. A four-time All-American, Jones dropped a 3-6, 6-3 7-6 match to Furman’s Ned Caswell in the second round of the 1986 NCAA Tournament. Prior to his junior year at Pepperdine, he also competed as a member of the 1984 U.S. Olympic team.

In May of 2013, Jones was inducted into the Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s (ITA) Men’s Collegiate Tennis Hall of Fame.

Jones is married to Tami Whitlinger-Jones, a former top WTA Tour tennis player. The couple has a daughter, Makenna, who plays #1 at North Carolina women's tennis team and has been the top American collegiate player for 2 seasons.