NEW HAVEN, Conn. – James Jones, the Joel E. Smilow, Class of 1954 head coach of the Bulldogs, has been named an assistant coach for the USA Basketball AmeriCup Qualifying team that is set to play two games in February.
 
Former NBA coach Joe Prunty will serve as head coach, while Othella Harrington will join Jones as an assistant coach.
 
Jones has prior experience with USA Basketball, serving as an assistant coach for the 2007 USA Basketball Men's Pan American Games Team and as a court coach for the 2006 USA Men's U18 National Team Trials.
 
"I'm excited about the opportunity to work with the coaches and players on the USA Basketball AmeriCup Qualifying Team," said Jones. "In 2007, I was fortunate enough to work with the USA Pan American Team, and to this day it remains one of my favorite coaching experiences."
 
Jones, the all-time winningest men's basketball coach at Yale, is one of the most successful coaches in Ivy League history. He has guided the Bulldogs to 333 victories, which is the second most in league history, and his 180 Ivy wins are the third most in league history.

Jones, who is in his 22nd year at the helm, has led the Bulldogs to five Ivy League championships – 2002, 2015, 2016, 2019, 2020 - three NCAA Tournament berths – 2016, 2019, 2020 - and six postseason appearances. His .612 winning percentage in Ivy games is by far the highest in school history.
 
Prunty, who served as an assistant coach for Mike Fratello with the November 2020 USA Basketball AmeriCup Qualifying Team and helped the U.S. to a 2-0 record, has 23 years of experience in the NBA. NBA teams with Prunty as a part of their coaching staff qualified for 17 NBA playoffs in his 23 seasons, and he has been part of teams that have won three NBA Championships (1999, 2003, 2005), all as a member on the San Antonio Spurs staff. He also advanced to the NBA Finals with Dallas in 2006.
 
Harrington was a four-year starter for Georgetown University who played 12 seasons in the NBA and in 709 regular-season games compiled 5,212 points (7.4 ppg.) and 3,130 rebounds (4.4 rpg.). He returns to the USA bench after serving as an assistant coach for the February 2020 and November 2020 USA AmeriCup Qualifying teams, which saw the USA finish 4-0.          
 
Team USA will train Feb. 13-18 in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and participate in the third and final competition window of the 2020-21 FIBA AmeriCup Qualifying games. The 4-0 Americans will wrap up their qualifying play facing Bahamas (1-3) on Feb. 19 and Mexico (2-2) on Feb. 20. Both games will be held in San Juan.