Coach Profile
Head Coach
Robert Jones
Head coach Robert Jones sets out on his 11th season leading the Norfolk State men’s basketball program in 2023-24 and his 17th year overall with the Spartans. He led the program to its second-consecutive MEAC title in 2022 and an NCAA Tournament First Four win over Appalachian State in 2021.
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 2nd 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.