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DeMatha Catholic boys basketball coach Mike Jones has had plenty of success at both the high school and international level, the second of which he is now looking to add more accolades to his resume.
USA Basketball announced last week that Jones is returning to coach its U16 men’s National Team. Team USA is slated to compete in the 2021 FIBA Americas U16 Championship, where the top four finishers earn a berth into the 2022 FIBA U17 World Cup. Joining Jones on the bench will be St. Edward’s Eric Flannery and Pace Academy’s Sharman White. Jones, Flannery and White have already achieved a ton of success working together, helping USA Basketball’s U16 and U17 teams to a combined seven gold medals.
“The committee felt these three coaches were the right group to lead the USA U16 National Team in 2021,” USA Basketball Men’s National Team director Sean Ford said, per release. “More than the fact that they were not able to coach in 2020 as expected, Mike, Eric and Sharman have outstanding experience coaching with USA Basketball, and they will lead this U16 team by exemplifying and developing the values of the USA Basketball Junior National Team program that they have been a huge part of creating.”
Jones has been running the show at DeMatha for 20 years, amassing a 511-119 record over that span.
“I am truly honored to represent our country and to work with such a great staff and tremendous young men,” Jones said. “We know that we have a challenge ahead of us, and we will embrace it, prepare for it, and we look forward to competing with some of the best talent from the Americas. We are very excited and anxious to get back on the court and chase a gold medal.”
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