Jones graduated from Marshall County High School in Guntersville in 1962. In high school, he earned All-State recognition in basketball and accepted a basketball scholarship offer from Snead State. While at Snead, Jones was named All-State and All-Region and attracted the attention of Jacksonville State coach Tom Roberson. At Jacksonville State, Jones led the Gamecocks in scoring in each of his two seasons. In 1964-65, his junior season, he scored 397 points, an average of 18.1 points per game. The following season, Jones tallied 489 points, a 17.2 average. As a senior, he also led the Gamecocks in free throw shooting at 84.7 percent, netting 89 of 105 attempts. While at JSU, Jones was named to the Alabama College Conference All-Conference team. Jones began his career as a college basketball head coach at Florence State, now the University of North Alabama. In two seasons at Florence, his record was 28-17. Jones became head basketball coach at Jacksonville State in the 1974-75 season and doubled the previous season’s win total with a 20-7 record. It was the first of 11 seasons with at least 20 wins. The 1984-85 Gamecocks lost their first game then streaked to 31 consecutive victories and captured the NCAA Division II national championship. Jones was named the Kodak national coach of the year that season. He was the Gulf South Conference coach of the year three times. When Jones retired following the 1997-98 season, his career record at Jacksonville State was 449-196, by far the best in school history. Jones has been inducted into the Jacksonville State University Athletic Hall of Fame and the American Softball Association Hall of Fame. In 2002, he became a charter member of the Marshall County Sports Hall of Fame.