Concordia Chicago names Tyler Jones as men's basketball coach
RIVER FOREST, Ill. -- Concordia University Chicago announces the appointment of Tyler Jones as head coach for the men’s basketball team. Jones succeeds Brian Sommerhauser who coached the Cougar men for the previous four seasons.

“I am extremely excited about coming to Concordia and being involved in the challenge of building a successful program in a small college environment,” stated Jones. “This is a great opportunity for me, and I look forward to getting started.”

Jones has an enviable basketball background that includes three seasons as an assistant coach at DePaul University under Dave Leitao, and five seasons (1997-2002) as head coach and general manager of the Connecticut Pride of the Continental Basketball Association (CBA). However, Jones’ basketball beginnings go back to a Division III school – Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut - marking his journey as full circle.

“The philosophy of Division III has always been special to me, the idea that it emphasizes the overall collegiate experience,” states Jones. “It’s a feeling, a flavor that’s hard to explain to someone who hasn’t experienced it. But, I do know that basketball was an essential part of my overall development at Trinity and, in the same way, I look forward to making basketball an important part in the lives of the student-athletes that I will coach at Concordia.”

Jones worked in the medical supplies industry for 11 years following graduation before receiving an opportunity with the Connecticut Pride in 1995. He was hired as the club’s director of operations but, because of his experience in marketing and a rich background in community involvement, Jones was promoted to general manager within a span of two months. Two years later, Jones became the Pride’s head coach and led the team to three consecutive playoff appearances that included a league championship and a CBA Coach of the Year honor in the 1998-99 season. Jones remained at the helm until the team ceased operations in 2002, finishing with a career record of 118-85 (one of 23 CBA coaches with 100 or more career wins, just ahead of Phil Jackson, who was 117-90 during the 1980s with the Pride’s predecessor, the Albany Patroons). Jones coached several players who went on to NBA careers, including Adrian Griffin, Kevin Ollie, Donny Marshall and Rick Brunson.

In 2002, Jones was asked to join Dave Leitao’s coaching staff at DePaul, and the following three years on Chicago’s Lincoln Park campus included two NIT appearances and a second-round NCAA tournament appearance in 2004 when the Blue Demons finished with a 22-10 record. When asked about his time with Leitao, Jones remarks that “discipline and structure are the two words that I will always associate with him. They were and still are the foundation of his coaching philosophy and a recipe for success in his career. I think that those concepts have been permanently ingrained in me from my time with Coach Leitao and have given me a good model on which to base my collegiate coaching.”

Jones’ time at DePaul left him with something else – a love for the city of Chicago. When Leitao left to take the head coach’s job at the University of Virginia in 2005, Jones opted to remain in the city with his family – wife Elise and the couple’s four children (Tyler Jr., Sterling, Sloan and Sydney). “We just felt like Chicago was a great place to raise a family and, in addition, Elise was expecting our fifth child (Hayden, born in November of 2005), so we decided to stay here.” Soon after, Jones took a position as a discipline coordinator at Lane Tech High School where he has remained up to the present. Jones has also stayed active in basketball, coaching the sophomore team at Lane. “It’s all basketball, whether at the professional, college or high school level. It’s a wonderful game that has opened a lot of doors for me and given me great opportunities, including this new one at Concordia.”

Jones, a native of East Hartford, Connecticut, earned his B.A. in communications from Trinity College in 1984.

Courtesy of Concordia University Chicago, Sports Information Department, June 6, 2008.