About Us
Mentorship, leadership, and shared success.
Jones Inc. (Junior Opportunities for Nurturing Excellence in Sports) is a youth-focused foundation dedicated to providing free camps and clinics for children ages 7–11 from New Haven and the greater Connecticut area. Our mission is to inspire young athletes not only through sports, but also through academic excellence and personal growth.
Each camp or clinic will include a structured academic component, with the goal of encouraging campers to set meaningful goals and pursue success in the classroom. We want our campers to look up to our players—not just as athletes, but as role models who value education and community.
Additionally, we will award an annual scholarship to a graduating senior from one of New Haven’s high schools, supporting their journey into higher education.
Our program is unique in that our athletes will lead the organization. They will be responsible for marketing, administration, event planning, and financial investment decisions. Most importantly, they will work directly with our campers, using basketball as a tool to teach life skills, teamwork, and resilience.
Through this process, both our campers and players will grow—each learning from the other in a cycle of mentorship, leadership, and shared success.
James Jones - President
James Jones, the all-time winningest men’s basketball coach at Yale and one of the most successful coaches in Ivy League history, was named Yale's head coach on April 27, 1999. He enters his 28th year at the helm in 2026-27. His 442 career victories are second most in league history. He also is second all-time with 236 Ivy wins.
Jones, the longest tenured coach in the league, has guided the Bulldogs to eight Ivy League championships – 2002, 2015, 2016, 2019, 2020, 2023, 2025, 2026 – four Ivy League Tournament titles – 2019, 2022, 2024, 2025 - five NCAA Tournament berths – 2016, 2019, 2022, 2024, 2025 - and 10 postseason appearances.
Jones, the 2019 recipient of the Ben Jobe Award as the top minority coach in Division I men's basketball, has presided over the most successful era in the long history of Yale Basketball. Over the last 11 seasons, Yale has posted a 119-37 (.763) Ivy League record, won seven Ivy championships, four Ivy League Tournament titles and earned five NCAA Tournament berths, and over the past seven years, he has consistently led the team to Ivy League success, capturing either the league championship, the tournament title, or both each season. In addition, Jones has been at the helm for the two NCAA Tournament victories in school history - upsets of Baylor in 2016 and Auburn in 2024.
Jones, who was inducted into the New England Basketball Hall of Fame in 2015, the New York Hall of Fame in 2026, and received the Connecticut Gold Key Award in 2026, he is a five-time Ivy League Coach of the Year (2015, 2016, 2020, 2023, 2026), and he has also been named the NABC District 13 Coach of the Year three times, as well as NABC Mid-Atlantic Co-Coach of the Year (2026).
Board Members
Paul Scott - Vice President
Paul Scott is a 33-year veteran of the New York City Police Department, retiring at the rank of lieutenant in 2020. He served in the Office of the Chief of Department for much of his career and later retired from the Office of Emergency Management while on loan from the NYPD. He is a graduate of SUNY Stony Brook with a bachelor’s degree in psychology. He lives in Brooklyn, New York, with his wife, Judy Phillips.
John F. Jones - Treasurer
John F. Jones is an accomplished sales and strategic account management executive with more than 35 years of experience building strong customer relationships, driving sales growth, and managing complex enterprise accounts across diverse industries.
John earned a four-year Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications from State University of New York at Oswego. He went on to build a distinguished 31-year career with United Parcel Service (UPS), where he managed a portfolio of 150 strategic enterprise accounts. During his tenure, John supported customers across a broad range of industries, including retail, investment banking, advertising, healthcare, and publishing.
Following his successful career with UPS, John joined W.W. Grainger, where he has spent four years as an Account Manager managing 25 key customer accounts across the plumbing, electrical, HVAC, entertainment, transportation, and energy industries.
Throughout his career, John has established a proven track record of delivering year-over-year sales growth while maximizing the value of both existing and new business relationships. He is highly skilled in strategic account management, customer targeting, business development, and relationship building, consistently creating long-term, profitable partnerships.
Richard Kent - Secretary
Richard Kent is a Phi Beta Kappa, summa cum laude of Rutgers College and a graduate of Boston College Law School. He is included in Best Lawyers In Anerica and teaches Sports Law at the Dolan School of Business at Fairfield University, the graduate program at Manhattanville University and at Rutgers Law School. He has authored 11 books on sports and Law topics. He resides in Westport, CT with his wife.