Two-time First Team All-West Coast Conference and NABC Second Team All-District 9 selection Rob Jones joined the UC Riverside men's basketball staff in June of 2021 as an assistant coach. Jones, a graduate of Saint Mary's College with extensive San Francisco Bay Area experience as both a player and coach, will be tasked with continuing the program's Northern California recruiting success. Jones will also work with the program's bigs, focusing on skill development and academics.
Jones came to UCR from Saint Mary's, where he spent two years as the Assistant Athletic Director of Men's Basketball for his alma mater after spending the 2018-19 season as a graduate assistant under Randy Bennett. He returned to Saint Mary's during the summer of 2018 after playing for the Gaels from 2010-12.
As a senior in Moraga, Jones was one of just two players on the team to start all 33 games during the season for Coach Bennett. He led the West Coast Conference and ranked seventh nationally in rebounds per game with a 10.8 average and ranked fifth nationally in double-doubles with 20 on the season. Jones was fifth in the WCC in scoring with 15.0 points per game and seventh in steals at 1.6 per game, as well as ranked third in the league in minutes played with 33.6 per game. He was selected for the All-WCC first-team for the second-straight season, and made the 2nd-team all-district by the NABC for the second-straight season as well. Jones was the only player in the league to earn two WCC Player of the Month honors (Nov. & Feb.) and he was a preseason All-WCC selection. Jones registered seven-straight double-doubles and eight-straight games of double-figure rebounds to open the season.
As a junior, Jones was selected to the All-WCC First Team and finished in the top 10 in the WCC in scoring (7th) and rebounding (2nd). He was also named Second-Team All-District 9 by the NABC. Jones registered eight double-doubles and 25 double-figure scoring games for the year while starting all 34 games and averaging 31.4 minutes per game.
All told, Jones took the Gaels to two NCAA Tournaments as a student-athlete (2010, 12) and once while on staff (2019).
After prepping at Archbishop Riordan High School in San Francisco, Jones played his freshman and sophomore years at San Diego and earned 2008 Freshman All-WCC honors, taking the Toreros to the 2008 NCAA Tournament where they upset fourth-seeded Connecticut. He returned to the Bay Area and transferred to Diablo Valley College for the fall of his junior year to complete his AA.
Jones played for the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2012 NBA Summer League before playing overseas for four years in Greece, Poland, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and Australia, winning the 2012-13 Polish TBL with Stelmet Zielona Gora.
