NSU coach Robert Jones proposes ‘757 Classic’ college basketball event

NORFOLK (WAVY) — While Norfolk State gets ready to play in the CIT title game Wednesday, head coach Robert Jones has an interesting proposal for the four Division I college basketball teams in the area.

In a tweet Saturday, Jones said, “With a lot new coaches in the 757 next season we need to stop this nonsense and play against each other every year.”

Old Dominion recently hired Mike Jones as head coach. Hampton hired Ivan Thomas to lead the Pirates and William & Mary has hired Brian Earl .

That makes Robert Jones the elder statesman of area coaches, and when asked about his tweet, he did not hold back on his desire to see the four area teams play each other.

“We all have budget constraints, some budgets are a little bigger than others, but we all have the same constraints,” Robert Jones said. “No teams in the 757 has Kentucky’s budget.”

How would this hypothetical scenario look? Jones offers up several.

“We can play at a neutral site, we can go to Scope,” Robert Jones said. “Maybe one year it’s us versus William & Mary and then play the winner of Hampton versus Old Dominion and then every year rotate. Or maybe it’s not a tournament, maybe it’s a classic.”

Norfolk State does play Hampton every year. It has played William & Mary in recent seasons, but the contract is up after this year. Since NSU moved up to Division I in 1997, the Spartans and Monarchs have met six times, the most recent in December 2022.

“We need to put down our egos and do the 757 classic for the people. We are too close in proximity to not play each other.”

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