Itch Jones

Richard C. Jones

• Bats Left, Throws Right
• Height 5' 9", Weight 155 lb.

• School Southern Illinois University

• Born 1938 in Herrin, IL USA

BR register page

Biographical Information

Itch Jones was a minor league player and long-time college coach.

Jones was All-Interstate Intercollegiate Athletic Conference at 2B three times at Southern Illinois University. He spent the summer of 1961 with the Baltimore Orioles' Stockton Ports (.173/.310/.204 in 54 G) and Bluefield Orioles (.343/.511/.486 in 10 G). He was a utility player for Stockton, fielding .957 in 22 games in the outfield, .959 in 18 games at short and .911 in 14 games at third.

He became basketball coach at Jacksonville High School (1961-1965) while earning his master's degree. He was head baseball coach at MacMurray College from 1966-1968 then was assistant at Southern Illinois in 1969. He became SIU's head coach in 1970. He was 738-345-5 in 21 seasons there and took his teams to the 1971 College World Series, 1974 College World Series and 1977 College World Series while developing Dave Stieb and Steve Finley among others. He won The Sporting News Coach of the Year in 1978. He coached for Team USA when they won the 1975 Intercontinental Cup.

Jones was then head coach at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign from 1991-2005, working with Scott Spiezio among others. He finished his career at 1,240-752-6, 13th in NCAA Division I history in wins at the time of his retirement.

Year-by-Year Coaching Record

Year	School	Overall Record	Conference Record	Notes
1966	MacMurray College
1967	MacMurray College
1968	MacMurray College
1970	Southern Illinois University	29-8		CWS District Tournaments
1971	Southern Illinois University	43-9	11-1	CWS District Tournaments / CWS
1972	Southern Illinois University	32-8-1	7-4
1973	Southern Illinois University	37-6		CWS District Tournaments
1974	Southern Illinois University	50-12		CWS District Tournaments / CWS
1975	Southern Illinois University	36-13-1		MVC
1976	Southern Illinois University	39-14-1		CWS Regionals
1977	Southern Illinois University	41-12		MVC / CWS Regionals / CWS
1978	Southern Illinois University	37-14		MVC / CWS Regionals
1979	Southern Illinois University	37-10		MVC
1980	Southern Illinois University	34-16		MVC
1981	Southern Illinois University	30-17	7-3	MVC / CWS Regionals
1982	Southern Illinois University	32-20	8-8	MVC
1983	Southern Illinois University	23-18	4-2	MVC
1984	Southern Illinois University	20-22	9-4	MVC
1985	Southern Illinois University	28-29	5-15
1986	Southern Illinois University	39-22-2	13-7	MVC / CWS Regionals
1987	Southern Illinois University	36-21	10-10	MVC
1988	Southern Illinois University	40-22	11-9	MVC
1989	Southern Illinois University	26-38	6-14	MVC
1990	Southern Illinois University	49-14	14-6	MVC / CWS Regionals
1991	University of Illinois	26-30	13-15
1992	University of Illinois	36-20	16-12	Big Ten
1993	University of Illinois	32-23	12-16
1994	University of Illinois	26-26	12-16
1995	University of Illinois	25-31	14-14
1996	University of Illinois	37-22	17-10	Big Ten
1997	University of Illinois	32-27	17-11	Big Ten
1998	University of Illinois	42-21	19-5	Big Ten / CWS Regionals
1999	University of Illinois	34-22	15-12	Big Ten
2000	University of Illinois	41-23	17-11	Big Ten / CWS Regionals
2001	University of Illinois	29-28	13-14	Big Ten
2002	University of Illinois	32-19	14-15
2003	University of Illinois	27-26	12-19
2004	University of Illinois	22-33	11-21
2005	University of Illinois	33-23-1	20-12	Big Ten