Jones, the ODU's basketball coach, says he's sticking to the routine amidst cancer treatments

Jeff Jones leaves the city by recruiting four days next week. He led a team practice on Monday and was eager to return to the field Thursday afternoon with a handful of players to work on skills development.

That's what the Old Dominion basketball coach does this year, with a new team assembled at the beginning of another school year.

This year, however, on another day on Thursday, there was a crowd of journalists who asked him questions about a topic he's trying not to think too much about, something he hopes he can " put to the test". side and move forward. "

Jones announced Wednesday that he was being treated for a recurrence of prostate cancer in which he was diagnosed three years ago. He met the media on Thursday, hoping to ask questions about his health, at least for now.

"My intention is, after we're done here, to stop thinking about cancer," he said. "I want to focus and think about our season and how to win basketball games."

The message was clear: It is normal for a 58-year-old coach to not want to go back to a demanding schedule.

Jones learned that the cancer had come back last summer and never left it. The doctors watched him for a year before starting to receive treatment in July.

Jones said he did not affect his coaching ability.

"I would not suggest to anyone or to our team or program a way to do it," he said. "I do not expect and I can not imagine that something will happen, certainly anytime soon, to have a negative impact or even to be perceptible, honestly."

Jones said that he was able to compartmentalize his life and chose to keep it as normal as possible.

"Rather than spending a lot of time thinking about prostate cancer, I just try to do my daily routine, do my job and live my life," he said.

This time of year, Jones' life is basketball. Even among coaches, he is considered a gymnastics enthusiast, the happiest when he teaches on the ground.

Always passionate, basketball also serves as a refuge.

"It's amazing how athletes can get lost in their sport. That's certainly the case with me, "he said. "That's what I would do anyway. This gives you a place not to hide but to focus on something you like rather than focusing on something negative.

So, Jones focuses on the positive, even with regard to his illness, an aggressive form of cancer that can be controlled for years with drugs, but for which there is no treatment.

Jones learned that he had had prostate cancer by chance when applying for a life insurance contract. He feels lucky to have been diagnosed then, rather than later.

He also says he is "blessed" to have the financial means to pay a $ 13,000 procedure that his insurance company would not approve.

He said that he had decided to make public the cloud that he felt by keeping it secret. He did not want his players or his friends to find out.

Jones also wants to continue to raise awareness about the disease and the need for men to be tested. He has been candid on the subject since his first diagnosis in 2015.

Jones spoke at the annual lobbying day of the American Cancer Society's Cancer Action Network in Washington last September. His wife, Danielle, has launched a fundraiser for ACS's Hope Lodge network, which benefits patients who need housing for treatment.

"Maybe there is good coming out of it," he said.

Meanwhile, Jones said he was grateful for the support he had received.

"It's humiliating," he said. "I feel a little unworthy. I feel good."

Jones seemed hale and energetic. The painful hip that he had replaced in May was a waste of time. Last year, it was sometimes impossible to train all day. This allowed him to be more active, both on the court and on the outside.

"He's perhaps the best physically he's ever seen," said his special assistant, Kieran Donohue, who has been working with Jones for 25 years.

Jones said his current treatment is to be vaccinated every three months. This is the measure, for now, in what will be a long battle that he does not try to minimize but on which we do not linger.

"There are people who suffer from other cancers. Their situation is much more serious, "he said. "I take it very seriously, at the same time, I do not wring my hands and I think that's bad luck for me, I'm really lucky and I will continue and continue doing what I'm doing." There is no reason so that I do not do it.