NDSU’s Joshua Jones, to make an impact on and off the court
FARGO, N.D. (BVM) — Bison men’s basketball head coach, David Richman, announced this past May that North Dakota State University (NDSU) would welcome Joshua Jones as it’s new assistant coach.
Although a newcomer to NDSU, Jones is no stranger to coaching college basketball.
An Indianapolis native, Jones was a standout guard for Eastern Kentucky University from 2008-2012. After earning his degree in sport management, he served one year as a graduate assistant coach for the Colonels. In this role, Jones helped lead the team to an Ohio Valley Conference championship in 2014.
Jones is familiar with the Summit League too, having coached 4 years for the Western Illinois men’s basketball team before his transfer to NDSU.
“I’ve spent the past four years in The Summit League and know firsthand that NDSU is a very special place,” Jones said in an interview, “I look forward to helping our student-athletes and the NDSU men’s basketball program build upon its rich tradition.”
The Bison came out as champions in the 2020 Summit League tournament last March, for the second year in a row. The excitement was palpable as NDSU blew out University of North Dakota (UND) 89-53 in the final round.
However, the team’s fourth trip to the March Madness tournament was canceled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
This is an interesting time for the Bison. In addition to Jones, they have also added Josh Sash to the coaching staff, and five new players to replace star guards Vinnie Shahid and Tyson Ward, who graduated last spring.
For the Bison, this year feels like a fresh start.
“We need to move on, we need to be hungry, we need to remain humble, and last year can’t define us, we need to continue to grow,” Richman said in an interview with KVRR.
However, Jones’s impact on this young Bison team will be bigger than basketball.
The Summit League recently announced that it would create a Diversity and Inclusion Task Force with representatives from all nine schools. Jones and women’s basketball player, Ryan Cobbins, will be representing NDSU.
Dr. Brandon Martin, the athletics director at the University of Missouri-Kansas City has been named the chair of the initiative,
“Our vision for this group is to provide our campuses with ways to be actively engaged in making the changes that are necessary to improve diversity and inclusion across the board,” Martin said. “We want to create strategies and implement initiatives that are genuine and purposeful that not only help our current situation but also impact future generations as well.”
Jones and Cobbins’ responsibilities will include meeting bi-monthly to discuss how NDSU can promote changes to meet the goal of the task force.
Jones isn’t the only assistant coach looking to make an impact off the court. Sash joined Coaches 4 Change which is a new program geared toward educating student athletes on issues similar to those that the Diversity and Inclusion Task Force will tackle.
