HOUSTON – Former LSU men’s basketball coach Johnny Jones is the newest Texas Southern head coach, the school officially announced Monday.
Jones’s career ended with much dismay in Baton Rouge after failing to lead Ben Simmons, Antonio Blakeney and Tim Quarterman to the NCAA tournament in 2016, before a 10-win season in 2017 ended his tenure. Monday, Simmons and Blakeney picked up rookie of the year honors in the NBA and G-League reflectivity. Quarterman has played in 20 NBA games the past two years.
Jones, an LSU alum, finished coaching the Tigers with a 90-72 record, which includes two 20-win seasons.
Southern Texas has won each of the past two SWAC tournament championships. This season won a First Four round game in the NCAA Tournament before falling to Xavier. Southern Texas has never won an NCAA Tournament game.