HAMMOND – Southeastern Louisiana head women's basketball coach Lori Davis Jones will return to where her coaching career started this weekend when she is inducted in the Lambuth University Athletics Hall of Fame in a ceremony on the Jackson, Tenn. campus.

Jones, who spent eight years at Lambuth as the women's basketball coach, is one of five inductees in this year's class which will be honored on Friday at 6:30 p.m. at the Jack Morris ballroom on the Lambuth campus. One of the inductees joining Jones is her husband Brad, a former Lambuth men's basketball player and coach, who is currently the head coach of the Utah Flash of the NBA Development League.

Jones, a Bluff Creek native and alumnae of Silliman Institute in Clinton, recently completed her eighth season at the helm of the Southeastern Louisiana women's basketball program. During her tenure, the Lady Lions have won two Southland Conference East Division championships (2006-07, 2008-09) and made four league tournament appearances.

Jones looks back at her time at Lambuth with fond memories on a personal and professional level.

“Brad and I are both excited to return to Jackson and receive this honor,” Jones commented. “I owe a debt of gratitude to the Lambuth administration for allowing me to get my start there and value the patience they showed with a young coach. We met so many great people there and we're looking forward to seeing a lot of familiar faces this weekend.

“It's definitely special to be able to share this with Brad,” Jones continued. “We just celebrated our 14th wedding anniversary and Lambuth is where we met. Our youngest son, Jackson, is named for Jackson, Tenn. (the home of Lambuth University). Lambuth definitely means a great deal to our family.”

A 1992 Southeastern graduate, Jones took over the Lambuth women's basketball program during the 1994-95 season. In her eight seasons as head coach, the program posted seven consecutive 20-win seasons and seven straight appearances in the final top 25. Starting with the 1998-99 campaign, the team made four NAIA National Tournament appearances and three trips to the Sweet 16.

Prior to taking over as head coach, Jones was an assistant women's basketball coach while also heading the volleyball, tennis and cheerleading squads. In her time there, she coached five NAIA All-Americans, five Kodak All-Americans, six NAIA Academic All-Americans and the 1997 Rawlings/NAIA National Player of the Year Temeka Boga.

Jones also will remember Lambuth fondly for allowing her to meet current assistant coaches Eric Dumas and Brent Harris. Both Lambuth graduates, Dumas and Harris played for Brad Jones on the Eagles' basketball team and later served as assistants for both the men's and women's basketball programs. Both accompanied Jones to Hammond when she took over the Lady Lions prior to the 2002-03 season.

“We were very fortunate to meet Brent and Eric during our time at Lambuth,” Jones commented. “They have both been very instrumental to our success on and off the court. We consider Brent and Eric to be part of our family and I'm extremely thankful that I've been blessed with two outstanding assistants.”

Founded in 1843, Lambuth competes in the Mid-South Conference. The university has a current enrollment of 653 students.