Johnny Jones takes over at LSU

Johnny Jones, who has served as the head coach at North Texas the last 11 seasons, will take over the vacancy at LSU.

Jones, who played collegiately at LSU (1980-84) and was an assistant for the Tigers for 14 years (1984-97), will become the new head coach, the school announced on Friday.

"I am extremely excited about this opportunity and I can't wait to get back there to Baton Rouge and LSU to get started," Jones said in a statement. "This is certainly a dream come true to return to a place that has so many memories for me."

LSU needed a replacement for Trent Johnson, who resigned to take the job at TCU. Johnson went 67-64 in four years as head coach at LSU. The Tigers went 18-15 this past season and lost in the first round of the NIT.

Jones engineered North Texas to an 18-14 record this past season. He's 190-146 during his tenure at the school. That includes a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances.

"I have followed Johnny closely since my first meeting with him four years ago when he was very impressive in my interview with him the last time the head coach job was open at LSU," Tigers athletic director Joe Alleva said. "He is the solid coach and recruiter that we need and I am particularly impressed with his passion for LSU."

Prior to his time at North Texas, Jones served as the head coach at Memphis for one season (1999-2000) and went 15-16 overall.

During his playing days at LSU, Jones appeared on the Tigers' 1981 Final Four team. He also helped coach LSU to the 1986 Final Four.