Marg Jones heading Lakers women’s basketball

Nipissing University has registered a second slam dunk in building a winning basketball program with the hiring of Marg Jones as head coach of the Lakers women’s basketball team.

Jones brings an excellent resume to the Lakers women’s basketball program. She knows first-hand how to win and the discipline and drive required of student-athletes, having co-captained her University of New Brunswick team to three conference championships and three CIS National Championship Tournaments. Her coaching career began in 1988 as an assistant coach with the University of Ottawa before she took over the head coaching position at Carleton University from 1989 – 94. After taking time off from coaching to raise her family, Jones was one of just six coaches selected to Canada Basketball’s inaugural Centre for Performance program. She served as the High Performance Director with Wheel Chair Basketball Canada from 2005 – 08 and was the Interim Executive Director at Basketball New Brunswick from 2008 – 09. Jones returned to the CIS as an assistant coach with the University of Ottawa, winning the bronze medal at the 2012 National Championships.

“The university is very happy to welcome Marg to campus and we are entirely confident in her abilities as a coach to help our student-athletes achieve success on and off the court,” said Nipissing University President, Dr. Mike DeGagné. “She brings immediate credibility to the program, much like Chris Cheng, and we are really looking forward to watching our two fantastic coaches as they build a program of excellence for Lakers basketball.”
“It is an honour to be a part of the launch of the basketball program at Nipissing University. The student athletes who chose to make Nipissing their home will be making history as we embark on this journey together,” said Jones. “I am very excited to build a basketball program at Nipissing in partnership with our men’s coach, Chris Cheng. We are similar in our coaching philosophies and I have an enormous amount of respect for his passion for and knowledge of the game. Leadership, tenacity, integrity, work ethic, mental toughness and the ability to be a great teammate are the qualities I will seek in student-athletes as we build this team.

“Thank you to Nipissing for believing in me. Thanks also to all the programs and coaches I’ve worked with and learned from in the past, especially Andy Sparks at UofO, Dave DeAverio from McGill and to Ontario Basketball who has shown great confidence in my delivery of their programs.”

“Students are really excited about our basketball teams and it’s fantastic that we’ve got a coach as knowledgeable and skilled as Marg to help us build our program,” said Kayla Fitzsimmons, Nipissing University Student Union president. “We are looking forward to cheering on both of our Lakers basketball teams. Welcome coach Marg and go Lakers!”

“On behalf of the city, I’d like to welcome Marg and say how proud we are that she has chosen our city and our university to apply her skills, knowledge and experience as a coach,” said North Bay Mayor, Al McDonald. “This is great news for our city as there are some terrific female basketball players here who can see the Lakers student-athletes as role models, inspiring our youth to value sport and academics as a regular and important part of their life.”