Cedarville University announced the hiring of Rob Jones as its new head men’s basketball coach on Wednesday. Jones takes the job after spending two seasons on Liberty’s staff under Ritchie McKay as associate head coach.
The announcement comes just over a week after Pat Estepp, the head coach at Cedarville for 16 seasons, stepped down to pursue another opportunity in college basketball. He finished his tenure as the second winningest coach in school history with a record of 292-191, helping the Yellow Jackets through its transition from NAIA Division II to NCAA Division II.
This will be Jones first time as a head coach. He heads to Cedarville following two years at Liberty and 17 seasons at the University of Richmond, most recently as an associate head coach before making the trek across state to Lynchburg. Jones also spent time as an assistant at Division II Alabama-Huntsville.
“To put it in baseball terms, Cedarvill University hit a home run with the addition of Rob Jones to their community,” said Liberty head coach Ritchie McKay in a press release. “Not only is Rob a fabulous basketball coach with a great strategic acumen, he is a fabulous person. His genuine, servant nature has been a gift to our program and campus, and he will continue to build on the tradition that Coach Estepp has established all while intentionally depositing into the spiritual and personal development of everyone he comes in contact with.”
Liberty’s staff became familiar with Cedarville during the offseason, as the Flames added the Yellow Jackets’ top player from last year’s team, Jayvon Maughmer. Last year, Maughmer started all 35 games he played in while averaging 33.1 minutes, 20.0 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 3.0 assists per game. He shot 51.9% from the field, 40.8% from three as he made 78 of 191 shots behind the arc, and also shot 81.0% from the free throw line.
Maughmer was named his conference’s player of the year and was named first-team NCCAA All-American, just one year after being a third team choice. He was also named the NCCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player after leading Cedarville to the national title. He was the first Cedarville player to appear on the first team NCCAA All-American list since his older brother, Branden, did so a few years ago. Like Jayvon, his brother Branden played four years at Cedarville before transferring to Division I Morehead State for his final season.
McKay will now be looking to replace Jones on his staff that currently includes associate head coach Derek Johnston and assistant coach Joe Pierre III.
