Brian Jones has rejoins the Bradley men's basketball staff with now 28 years of coaching experience, including 13 years as a head coach at the University of North Dakota. Most recently, he served as an assistant coach at Eastern Tennessee in 2024-25.
In addition to North Dakota and Bradley, Jones has coached at Iowa, Illinois State, Nebraska-Omaha, and Southwest Missouri State. He was the interim head coach for the final seven games of the 2021-22 season at Illinois State.
During the 2022-23 season at Bradley, Jones contributed to the team's success as they won the Missouri Valley Conference regular season title for the first time since 1996 with a 16-4 record in league play. Bradley won 25 games overall and participated in the NIT. The team was one of the top defensive squads in the MVC, ranking second in points allowed per game at 62.7, second in rebounding margin at plus 3.97, and second in offensive rebounds at 9.74 per game.
Jones spent three years as associate head coach at Illinois State, stepping in as interim head coach for the final seven games of the 2021-22 season. He served as the offensive coordinator during those three seasons, with Illinois State ranking in the top three in league scoring offense in the final two seasons. The team was third in scoring offense in both 2020-21 and 2021-22, second in assists in 2020-21, and third in three-point field goal percentage in 2021-22.
From 2006 to 2019, Jones was the head coach at North Dakota, leading the team to its first NCAA Tournament appearance in 2016-17. He guided the program’s transition from Division II to Division I, winning three conference tournament titles and reaching six postseason tournaments in his final nine years. Under his leadership, North Dakota captured its first Great West Conference titles and later its first Big Sky Conference regular season and tournament titles. The 2016-17 team finished 22-10 with a 14-4 conference record, earning the NCAA Tournament berth. The program also made five appearances in the CollegeInsider.com Tournament over six years.
Jones was named 2017 Big Sky and NABC Coach of the Year at North Dakota. He coached one College Court Report Mid-Major Player of the Year, four Lou Henson Mid-Major All-Americans, four all-district selections, and 12 all-conference players.
Before his time at North Dakota, Jones worked under Steve Alford at both Iowa and Southwest Missouri State.
At Iowa from 1999 to 2006, the team made three NCAA Tournament and three NIT appearances. During Jones’ seven years, Iowa won Big Ten Tournament titles in 2001 and 2006. In four of his last five years there, a Hawkeye led the Big Ten in rebounding, and the team had the league’s top shot blocker for three straight seasons.
In 1998-99, Jones was an assistant coach at Missouri State under Alford. That season, Missouri State went 22-11 and reached the Sweet 16 for the only time in program history. As a 12 seed, they beat 5 seed Wisconsin and 4 seed Tennessee before falling to top seed Duke. The team finished the season ranked 24th nationally.
Jones, originally from Rock Island, Illinois, began his coaching career at Nebraska-Omaha, where he spent two seasons from 1996 to 1998.
He played at Northern Iowa from 1990 to 1994, appearing in 104 games with 22 starts. After earning a bachelor’s degree in communications in 1994, he played professionally in Australia and Portugal. He later received a master’s degree in athletic administration from Omaha in 2003.