After Mo Williams and Tony Madlock's departures from the SWAC, there's been wide speculation that Texas Southern's Johnny Jones is set to leave the institution to return to LSU. But the past 48 hours have led to confusion as Wade hasn't officially announced his departure. But a report by Kyle T. Moseley of HBCU Legends gives more clarity to the situation at hand.
Jones hasn't departed Houston to head back to the Bayou yet. But, he indicated to Moseley that talks are indeed ongoing.
“In a follow-up exchange with HBCU Legends to clarify his ‘Nothing is concrete' statement, Jones did verify that he is ‘in discussions' with LSU — but nothing beyond that,” Moseley wrote in his latest report.
Jones is a tenured coaching professional in college basketball, serving in several capacities at Memphis, Alabama, North Texas, LSU, Nevada, and Texas Southern over the past 34 years. Jones is an alumnus of LSU, playing for the men's basketball team from 1980 to 1984 and even serving as head coach from 2012 to 2017. He's been the coach of Texas Southern since 2018, and the team has found success in the SWAC, including three straight SWAC Tournament wins and a bid to the March Madness field.
Jones tenure at Texas Southern started as well as anyone could've imagined. He posted winning seasons in three of his first four years with the Tigers. But the team hasn't seen the heights of the success they accrued early in his tenure. This past season, they went 12-18 and 10-8 in conference. They were beaten in the first round of the SWAC tournament by Alabama A&M in an 85-74 contest.
While Jones is still with Texas Southern, all eyes will be on him over the next few weeks. Will he return to his alma mater or stay with his HBCU and build the team back into a competitor in the SWAC?
