Zeke Jones pursuing lofty goals at Arizona State

The athletes on the Arizona State University wrestling team see it every day.
A large poster that is displayed on a wall in the Sun Devils wrestling room.
The poster features the members of the 1988 NCAA championship team.
One member of that historic team, the only school west of the Rocky Mountains to win NCAAs in wrestling, is back at ASU with the same lofty goals he had as an athlete a quarter-century ago.
Zeke Jones has returned as the head coach of his alma mater.
“The transition has been really smooth,” said Jones, 48, who spent 5½ years as USA Wrestling’s National Freestyle Coach from 2008-14. “I’m really excited to be back at Arizona State. This is like a second home for me. I love it here.
“It seems like I’ve been working 24 hours a day, seven days a week since I came back, but it’s been great. It’s going to take a lot of hard work for us to be successful. We want to get back in the mix of winning a national championship.”
Leaving USA Wrestling for Arizona State was a difficult decision for Jones. During Jones’ time as the U.S. National Coach, Jordan Burroughs and Jake Varner won Olympic gold medals in 2012. Burroughs also won a pair of World titles and Jones made numerous other key contributions while leading the American freestyle program. The U.S. team finished as high as third in the World during his tenure in Colorado Springs.
“It was very hard – it was very tough to leave USA Wrestling,” Jones said. “Jordan Burroughs is right in the prime of his career and we felt like we had a team that could contend for the World team title. I felt like we had our system and our program in place, and it was running like a well-oiled machine. We had the effort, focus and consistency. We had tons of support, and some great leaders and coaches. Everybody was on board. It was hard to leave that.
“It was a privilege to lead the National Team. There were only one or two places we would’ve considered going to, and Arizona State was one of them. I saw a great opportunity to have a lot of success at Arizona State and I’m looking forward to the challenge. Building the program here is going to be very similar to what we did at USA Wrestling.”
Jones not only is hoping to build the Arizona State program, but he’s looking to develop a strong Regional Training Center to compete at the international level in freestyle wrestling while working closely with the Sunkist Kids.
Among the international athletes Jones has training with him at ASU are two-time NCAA champion and past Junior World medalist Jordan Oliver, two-time World medalist Helen Maroulis, University World champion Tyrell Fortune and Olympian Kelsey Campbell.
Four-time NCAA champion Kyle Dake and two-time NCAA champion Tony Nelson are in Tempe to train with the athletes there this week.
Hall of Famer Art Martori, long-time head of the Sunkist Kids Wrestling Club, also played a key role in the return of Jones to ASU.
“Art’s been really supportive,” Jones said. “Art is helping us have an Olympic-caliber program that is connected to the university. It takes a tremendous commitment to do that. We have an Olympic Regional Training Center and he has provided funding for that. He wanted to help build the freestyle side of what we are doing. He also funds Sunkist at the national level. Art is focused on freestyle and wants it to be successful, but he knows the college rooms are the breeding grounds for freestyle.”
Jones and Martori are hoping to build a foundation similar to what Martori did with legendary Coach Bobby Douglas at Arizona State in the 1980s. Douglas coached ASU to the 1988 NCAA team title and also helped build the Sunkist Kids into a national and international power in freestyle.
“It’s the same thing that Art and Bobby did here,” said Jones, who wrestled for Douglas. “Art and Bobby Douglas created this model in response to what the Iowa program did with Dan Gable and (Roy) Carver in the 1980s. They started a freestyle program where athletes could wrestle in college and continue to compete post-college while training at the same place.
“That model is nothing new and obviously it has worked well. All the Regional Training Centers know the model. Obviously, it’s worked really well for Iowa, Penn State and Ohio State.”
Jones has only been on the job at ASU since April, but the dynamic, high-energy coach already is making a big splash on the collegiate scene.
Jones landed the No. 1 ranked recruiting class this fall that is headlined by the talented combination of standout California siblings Anthony and Zahid Valenica. Anthony Valencia placed ninth for the U.S. at the 2014 Junior World Championships in freestyle wrestling.
“Within five minutes of taking the job, I was on the phone with the Valencias,” Jones said with a laugh. “It just seemed like a great marriage. They are kids who live close to here, in California, and they have goals to be the best in the World and they feel like this is a place where they can do that. They can get a great education here, wrestle in a strong college program and then train in freestyle here. It’s an 8-10 year process.
“Their goal is our goal. They want to be the best. Those are the kind of kids we’ve attracted and the kind of kids we’re looking at. The Valencias were the first believers, and now we have more.”
Jones also landed Minnesota standout Lance Benick along with Pennsylvania stars Josh Maruca and Josh Shields.
“It’s good to have the No. 1 recruiting class, but it means nothing unless the potential is realized,” Jones said. “We think we have the structure here for kids to get an excellent education and for them to get on top of the podium in wrestling. Kids that want it all in wrestling can come here.”
Jones and his Sun Devils team already have experienced some early success this season.
ASU junior Blake Stauffer captured the 184-pound title at the rugged Cliff Keen Invitational this past weekend in Las Vegas. Stauffer, a two-time NCAA qualifier, has climbed to No. 6 in the national rankings.
“Blake is starting to emerge,” Jones said. “He showed in Vegas that he has a chance to be in the mix at the NCAA Championships. He’s hitting his stride. What Blake’s doing, it can rub off on and have an impact on our other guys. He’s a good leader, a hard worker, and he’s very focused.”
Jones said he is pleased with the coaching staff that he’s assembled. He retained veteran assistant coach Lee Pritts from the previous ASU staff, and then added two-time NCAA champions Chris Pendleton and Jordan Oliver as assistant coaches.
Pritts made a strong first impression on Jones.
“Lee Pritts has been great,” Jones said. “I realized right away that Lee is a damn good recruiter. Plus, he’s been at Arizona State and he knew the kids and the personnel we had here. We are similar – we both work 24/7. Lee is a really good coach, and he’s very good technically.”
Pendleton is a past U.S. National Team member in freestyle and Oliver is a past Junior World medalist who is ranked No. 2 in the U.S. in freestyle at 65 kg/143 lbs.
“Chris Pendleton is from California, so he loves the heat, too,” Jones said with a laugh. “Chris was a great college wrestler who also has done very well internationally in freestyle. And he has coaching experience, so he’s been a very good fit for us.
“Jordan Oliver, he gives us a great wrestler in the room and gives us a Pennsylvania and East Coast connection that can help us in recruiting. Jordan and Chris obviously know what it takes to be successful coming out of the Oklahoma State program.”
Jones said his previous coaching stops at Penn, West Virginia and Bloomsburg also have helped him with the transition back to the collegiate level. Among the wrestlers he mentored were three-time NCAA champion Greg Jones at West Virginia and two-time NCAA champion Matt Valenti at Penn.
“That experience helps a tremendous amount,” Jones said. “I have a strong understanding of what it takes to be successful on the college level. And then with my National Team experience at USA Wrestling, I really feel good about sharing that knowledge with the kids here.”
Jones said he has received strong administrative support since his return to Tempe.
Jones said Arizona State President Michael Crow wrestled in high school. Jones was hired by athletic director Ray Anderson, who came to ASU in January after serving as the executive vice president of football operations for the National Football League.
“We have great leadership here,” Jones said. “Ray Anderson ran the Super Bowl for the NFL. Ray’s first hire at Arizona State was for wrestling. He made it clear to me that they want wrestling to be a strong part of the athletic department, and they’re very committed to that.”
Jones also works closely with ASU associate athletic director Scottie Graham, who was a New York state high school champion in wrestling. Graham played running back for Ohio State and for six years in the National Football League. Graham also worked in the NFL before being brought to ASU by Anderson.
“Scottie’s been great,” Jones said. “I was in his office after I started here, and he pulled out two blue Asics wrestling shoes. He actually put his shoes on and came to the World Team training camp we hosted here this summer. It’s been really nice to have his support.”
As a wrestler, Jones was a three-time All-American for Arizona State. He went on to win a World title, an Olympic silver medal and a World bronze medal for the U.S. in freestyle wrestling.
Jones said he has enjoyed a return to the warmer weather in suburban Phoenix.
“It’s obviously a beautiful place to live,” Jones said Tuesday morning. “It’s 75 degrees here today. We actually ran outside on the soccer field today. Our weather here is very conducive to training. It gives us a great opportunity to do things outside in the winter that gives us an edge in training.”
Jones already has welcomed numerous past ASU wrestling greats back into the program. Among those are UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez, NCAA champion Anthony Robles, and Jones’ teammates from the 1988 national championship team.
Jones is eager to make sizeable improvements with the ASU program, but realizes it won’t all happen immediately.
“It’s a process, getting a program to the place you want,” he said. “Everybody wants it yesterday, including me, but it takes time. We are going to take our time and do it right.
“Don’t get me wrong, we have high expectations. We have the commitment, the resources, the work ethic, the desire and the passion to get it done here.”
Jones doesn’t mention it often, but he occasionally references that magical 1988 season. And his wrestlers can look up at that large poster in the wrestling room and visualize what is possible in Tempe.
“They see that poster and they realize we can have success at Arizona State,” he said. “That was an exciting time – there was a winner in town and it felt great to be a part of it. We have a lot of people who are determined to see it happen again.”