Ivy League Basketball: Top 10 head coaches of the century (2000-20)

By Joey Loose | Jun 1, 2020

PHILADELPHIA, PA - MARCH 11: Darnell Foreman #4 of the Pennsylvania Quakers sits atop the rim after the win at The Palestra on March 11, 2018 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Penn defeated Harvard 68-65 for the Men's Ivy League Tournament Championship title. (Photo by Corey Perrine/Getty Images) /

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PRINCETON, NJ – MARCH 09: Head coach James Jones of the Yale Bulldogs (Photo by Corey Perrine/Getty Images) /

4. James Jones – Yale (2000-2020)

We’ve already talked about the difficulty of sustained success in the Ivy League, but Jones has been the epitome of that success. Hired in 1999, he’s already spent more than two decades leading the Bulldogs and the results in recent years clearly speak for themselves.

Jones led Yale to NCAA Tournament trips in 2016 and 2019 and was primed to repeat that success before it’s cancellation this past season. The 2016 team secured the program’s first-ever NCAA Tournament win after upsetting Baylor. Another impressive part of his run at Yale is that the Bulldogs have finished in the top 4 of the league in each of the last 20 seasons. As previously mentioned, Jones defines prolonged success in the conference, especially for a program that hadn’t been in the NCAA Tournament since 1962. On a yearly basis, he has Yale at or near the top of the conference and in a position to contend for postseason appearances.

There’s no telling how long Jones will stay at Yale, but his 333 wins are already an incredibly impressive number. His legacy will be heightened with a few more NCAA Tournament bids, but the way he’s been putting teams together, this could be a legitimate possibility in the upcoming decade. Jones’ tenure is also proof that a coach doesn’t need to win right away to be successful, needing 17 seasons to make that first Tourney run and win.