NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — Old Dominion University men’s basketball coach Jeff Jones announced on Wednesday that he has had a recurrence of prostate cancer.
Jones, who diagnosed and treated for the disease in 2015 informed his players last week that the cancer had returned.
“I told them, ‘I’ve had this for a year now and you haven’t seen any difference in me and you’re not going to see any difference now, either,’” he said. Jones learned last summer of the relapse and he began treatment this summer, according to a statement by the University.
September is Prostate Cancer Awareness Month.
“I’m going to keep doing the stuff that I’m doing, there’s no reason that I shouldn’t,” Jones told reporters on Thursday. “I didn’t want my players to hear from someone else. I didn’t want friends to hear from someone else.”
Jones has been open with his diagnosis, working with the American Cancer Society to lobby lawmakers in Washington, D.C..
“The passion that Coach Jones brings to the American Cancer Society, I can’t really explain how important it was,” said Dr. Bruce Waldholtz, who sits on the National Board of Directors of the American Cancer Society.
Dr. Waldholtz says Jones’ platform has helped increase awareness and get more men tested.
“A lot of men enjoy sports, but they may not enjoy going to the doctor,” Dr. Waldholtz said. “Try to get the ball to the researcher who can take that shot for all of us, to make a difference in research to make a better future for everyone.”
As for how it will affect the team, Jones says it’s business as usual.
“I dare anybody to come up with, you know, a way that it negatively impacted me or our team or our program,” he said.
In conjunction with this announcement, and in her role as a volunteer for the American Cancer Society’s Coaches vs. Cancer program, Jones’s wife, Danielle Jones plans to launch a fundraiser for ACS’s Hope Lodge Network, which benefits patients who require lodging for treatment.
To contribute to the Jones’ fundraising effort, click here.
