JONES EARNS COACH OF THE YEAR HONORS

Jones’ team will set the school record for winning percentage this season
Brian Holloway

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla., May 7, 2008 – North Carolina A&T softball coach Mamie Jones knew if you build it they will come. She waited patiently for a new on-campus softball facility to be built. Once The Lady Aggies Softball Complex was completed in 2005, top-notch recruits indeed came.

Her efforts in advocating for a new facility to be constructed and her efforts in bringing in excellent players over the last several seasons culminated in Jones being named the 2008 MEAC Coach of the Year Wednesday night at the MEAC Softball Tournament Banquet in Daytona Beach, Fla.

It was Jones’ first coach of the year honor, and it added to her already impressive resume as an Aggie. Jones, a 1980 N.C. A&T graduate and an Aggie Hall of Famer, played women’s basketball for the Aggies from 1976-79. She was the first player in the program’s history to record 1,000 career points. In 1979, she was the first Aggie female basketball player to be named first-team All-MEAC and the first Lady Aggie to be named MEAC Player of the Year.

Over the last 14 seasons, she has led the Aggies fastpitch program. In the last two seasons, the program has enjoyed its best success. As the Aggies head into the 2008 MEAC Tournament this week, the team has recorded the most wins it has ever had over a two-year period with 61 victories. For the first time in the program’s history, it put together back-to-back 30-win seasons.

This season the Aggies are 31-15-1. Another victory will break the school record for wins. No matter what happens in the MEAC Tournament, the Aggies will break the school record for best winning percentage in a season. Jones’ team leads the nation in triples. The Aggies are fifth in the nation in scoring and 22^nd in the nation in batting average.

“This award is a team effort,’’ said Jones. “It’s a reflection on how much hard work the team and I have put in this season. I’ve been doing this a long time, so it means a lot to me that my coaching colleagues recognized how far this program has come.”

A year ago, Jones took a team mostly comprised of freshmen and played for a MEAC Championship. Her team ranked in the top 50 in six different statistical categories. Shortstop Yahamma White led the nation in runs. This season Jones’ team won a share of the MEAC Southern Division regular-season title at 9-3, and her team ranks in the top 50 in five different statistical categories as they go after the school’s first softball tournament title.