The DeMatha basketball program ended a long and much-discussed search for a permanent head coach Thursday by turning to a familiar name with an unfamiliar face.
Mike Jones, the head boys’ basketball coach at St. Stephen’s/St. Agnes, will take over the most prestigious job in D.C. area high school basketball, becoming the Stags’ third full-time leader since 1956. He inherits the job from another Mike Jones, the longtime Stags coach who left to become the top assistant at Virginia Tech last spring.
In four seasons as the head coach in Alexandria, the 47-year old Jones led St. Stephen’s/St. Agnes to three Interstate Athletic Conference titles and propelled the Saints to a new level of local recognition.
The decision may come as a surprise to those who expected the Stags to hire a DeMatha alum or former assistant. After Hall of Fame coach Morgan Wootten made DeMatha a household name across a dominant 46-year career, the Hyattsville school has boasted an accomplished and proud network of basketball minds.
Bishop O’Connell Coach Joe Wootten, Morgan’s son and a former Stags assistant, was among those interviewed for the position, according to sources close to the search.
The hiring marks the end of an extended period of uncertainty within the esteemed program, one that began last spring when Mike Jones left after 19 years to become the top assistant for the Hokies. The school named Pete Strickland, a former college coach and Stags alum, the interim coach for this season. Read more at The Washington Post.
Photo: St. Stephen’s/St. Agnes Coach Mike Jones is set to take over the celebrated DeMatha basketball program. (Jonathan Newton / The Washington Post)
