(From Illinois Sports Information Office)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Coaches enter the profession for a myriad of reasons, including the positive impact they can have on the lives of young people and for developing life-long relationships with the players and staff they associate with.

There are few, if any, coaches who developed more lifetime relationships or had the impact on his players and colleagues as Richard C. "Itch" "Itchy" Jones. That amazing life ended Monday, at the age of 87 surrounded by his loving family in Gore, Oklahoma. He had battled Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease for nearly three years after initially being given just seven months to live. Living almost four times longer than that original diagnosis was additional verification of the perseverance and fight that was signature to Itch Jones' life.

"Itch leaves an unfillable void in our world and the baseball community," said Illinois head coach Dan Hartleb. "He was ahead of his time with his baseball teachings and innovative drills. He was blessed with one of the best minds in the game of baseball. A teacher, clinician, entertainer, and champion.

"He was an outstanding father, husband, brother, and coach. Itch was a second father to me, a lifelong baseball and life mentor. Many of the things we do in our program to this day - both on and off the field - are based on the fundamentals and values that Itch taught and instilled in me.

"Itch was the best human being I have ever been around in my life. I will miss him dearly. He will be missed by all that he touched during his lifetime."

Jones leaves behind his devoted and loving wife, Sue, of 62 years, children Michael (Carol) Jones of Louisville, Kentucky, and Susan Jones, of Gore, Oklahoma, and grandchildren Richard Jones and Micah Jones. Jones was born Feb. 15, 1938, the son of Jinx "Jiggs" and Rosine Jones and was a brother to R.A. "Cowboy" Jones, a 50-plus year jockey who raced in the United States and Canada, who is also deceased.

Jones earned that quirky nickname of "Itchy" from his cousin, Albert, after breaking his leg in third grade and using the handle of a fly swatter to relieve the itchiness between the cast and his skin. The nickname stuck for the remainder of his life, changing only from "Itchy" to "Itch" after Jones was named the head coach at the University of Illinois in 1991 to help him differentiate the people he knew from Southern Illinois University and the start of his new home in Champaign-Urbana. And, as many of his friends, neighbors and colleagues can attest, at first mention of a home project, no matter the size or scope, Jones would help bring the job to completion.

Itch Jones' coaching record speaks for itself with an all-time mark of 1,240-718-6, including a school-record 738 wins in 21 seasons at SIU and 474 victories in 15 years at Illinois. His additional 18 victories came during the first three seasons from 1966-68 as head coach at MacMurray College in Jacksonville, Illinois.

Jones retired from coaching in 2005 as one of the most decorated coaches in NCAA history, ranking 13th on the NCAA Division I wins list and eighth among active coaches at the end of that campaign. His finest season at Illinois was in 1998 when the Illini won their first regular season Big Ten Championship in 35 years. He also led Illinois to the Big Ten regular-season title in his final season in 2005 and to a Big Ten Tournament championship in 2000.

At Southern Illinois, he built a dynasty with seven Missouri Valley Conference regular season titles (1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1984, 1986, 1990), a Midwestern Conference title (1971) and MVC Tournament championships in 1977, 1978, 1981, 1986 and 1990. Jones was named MVC Coach of the Year four times and Big Ten Coach of the Year twice. He was named the NCAA Division I Diamond Baseball Coach of the Year in 1990 and earned two other national coach of the year honors – Adirondack National Coach of the Year in 1971 and The Sporting News Coach of the Year in 1977.

During his 39-year coaching career, he helped more than 22 of his players learn the skills that would take them to the Major Leagues, with well over 100 players moving on to professional baseball. Major leaguers included Dave Stieb, Steve Finley and Scott Spiezio, in addition to Pittsburgh Pirate manager Derek Shelton. Many of his former players continue to enjoy long careers in baseball whether in the front office of professional teams, on-field coaches or as coaches at the collegiate level, including current Fighting Illini coach Dan Hartleb, who both played for Jones at SIU, assisted him at SIU and Illinois and followed him as the head coach of the Fighting Illini beginning in 2006.

A proud native of Herrin, Illinois, Jones was an outstanding basketball player for the Tigers before taking his talents to SIU and the Salukis. He received his bachelor's degree at SIU in 1961 and a master's degree there in 1965. Jones was a three-time All-Conference second baseman for the Salukis, where he was the team MVP as a freshman while lettering in baseball all four years and lettering one year as a starting point guard as a freshman in basketball.

After one season in the Baltimore Orioles minor-league system, Jones accepted a position at Jacksonville High School in 1961 coaching freshman football and junior varsity basketball. In 1964, Jones was promoted to head varsity basketball coach and led his '64 JHS team to the Sweet Sixteen in the Illinois high school basketball state tournament.

Jones became head baseball coach at MacMurray College in 1966 for three seasons before returning to his alma mater as an assistant coach in 1968 and becoming head coach in 1970. In his 21 seasons at SIU he led the Salukis to 10 NCAA tournaments and three College World Series appearances in 1971, 1974 and 1977.

Considered one of the nation's top hitting instructors, there are very few, if anyone, who was a better fungo hitter. He took great pride in his ability to hit pop ups in a phone booth for his catchers at the end of warming up his fielders with ground balls and fly balls.

Jones has membership in nine Hall of Fames, Herrin High School, Jacksonville High School, MacMurray College, Southern Illinois University Athletics, Illinois Basketball Coaches Association, Illinois High School Baseball Coaches Association, American Baseball Coaches Association, St. Louis Area Sports and Missouri Valley Conference.

The $4 million renovation of Abe Martin Field at SIU honored Jones when it re-opened for the 2014 season and was dedicated "Richard "Itchy" Jones Stadium." His SIU baseball jersey No. 1 was retired at SIU in 2022, and his high school basketball jersey No. 40 was retired at Herrin at the end of his senior year.

A Celebration of Life will be scheduled for later in 2025.