It’s another homecoming for Will Jones at Hudson’s Bay High School.
Jones, Columbia River’s girls basketball coach the past three seasons, returns to the same school he got his first head-coaching job in 2011.
Jones is now the Eagles’ boys basketball coach, replacing Theo Mikaele.
Jones said a number of factors went into a decision that he called “great timing.” A big one is being an in-building coach at Bay. Jones works as a student advocate at the school, a program that helps struggling students get on track to graduate.
“I work with those kids all day,” he said. “It’s very good to now work with the kids I coach. That’s huge.”
Jones’ roots at Bay run deep. He assisted the boys basketball program under two head coaches and was head coach of Bay’s girls team from 2011-13. At River, he led the Chieftains to three district tournament appearances and back-to-back second-place finishes in league. This past winter, River went 16-5 behind league MVP Jordan Ryan.
“I absolutely loved coaching the River girls,” Jones said. “It was a hard conversation (announcing my resignation), but they all understood.”
Hudson’s Bay returns to Class 2A this school year as part of a nine-school 2A Greater St. Helens League. The Eagles went 4-16 last season.
