Derrick Jones Last College: Samford Position: Assistant Coach Email: ddjones@latech.edu

When Michael White was named the new head coach of the Bulldog basketball program, one of his first orders of business was hiring a staff.

With White's interest in re-establishing a solid footing on the recruiting trails within the state and region, he quickly realized that Louisiana native Derrick Jones would be an integral piece of the Bulldogs coaching puzzle.

Jones enters his second season as a member of the Louisiana Tech staff - his first under White - as the longtime Louisiana native brings a wealth of knowledge of the game from his collegiate coaching experience as well as a keen understanding of the recruiting landscape in Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, Texas and other areas of the southern states.

During his first year at Louisiana Tech, Jones worked closely with the Bulldog post players, including highly-regarded forward Olu Ashaolu who was one of the Western Athletic Conference leaders in double-doubles.

Jones came to Ruston with an impressive resume as he spent two seasons at the University of New Orleans where he was heavily involved in recruiting, player evaluation, academics and on-court preparation for the Privateers.

Prior to UNO, Jones spent three years as an assistant coach at Samford from 2005 through 2008 working for coach Jimmy Tillette, who is the program's all-time leader in wins with over 200. During his first year with the Bulldogs, Jones helped lead Samford to a 20-win season, including wins over perennial postseason teams in Southern Miss and Murray State.

Jones started his coaching career on the high school level where he served as an assistant coach at John Ehret High School in Marrero, Louisiana from 2003-2005. After a 13-14 finish in his first year at the school, Jones helped coach the team to a 27-3 mark and a No. 2 ranking in Class 5A in the state of Louisiana the following season.

Jones also has coaching experience on the AAU level as he was the head coach for the Panther Select AAU 17-and-under team while also assisting with the 14-and-under team. Jones worked with a number of Division I players, including Greg Monroe (Georgetown), Brandon Moore (Florida International), Charles Carmouche (Memphis), Eddie Ludwig (LSU) and more.

After prepping as a player at Catholic High School in Baton Rouge where he helped lead the team to the 1995 Louisiana Class 5A state title game as a junior, Jones signed with Mississippi State where he started 12 games and led all Bulldog freshmen in scoring. Following his sophomore season in Starkville, he transferred to Samford where he led the program to an NCAA Tournament appearance as a junior. He averaged 13.8 points and earned all-conference accolades his senior season.

Jones earned his bachelor's degree in business management from Samford.

He and his wife, Tiffany, have one son, Nico.