Two seasons ago, James Jones left the associate men's basketball head coaching position at Yale for an assistant coaching job at Ohio.

Two seasons after that move, Jones is heading back to his previous stomping grounds in New Haven, Conn., this time as Yale's head coach.

The move, which is expected to be made official by Yale today, is looked upon with admiration by Jones' fellow assistant at Ohio, Mike Elfers.

"Coach Jones is a quality man through and through," Elfers said. "He really helped coach Hunter in recruiting, and he did a lot of the grunt work. I'm sure he'll do a great job at Yale."

Jones, a Huntington, N.Y. native, graduated from the University of Albany (N.Y.) and spent five seasons as an assistant men's basketball coach there before moving on to Yale in 1995.

When Jones was hired on July 1, 1997 to assistant coach at Ohio, his primary responsibilities included coordinating Ohio's recruiting efforts and developing post players such as graduating forward Diante Flenorl.

"I'm real happy for him," Flenorl said. "It's every assistant's dream to become a head coach."

Elfers, meanwhile, said that while he is always looking for a head coaching position, he is staying put at Ohio for now.

Jones was unavailable for comment.

Flenorl plays in pre-NBA Draft camp

Flenorl arrived home yesterday to the news that Jones was leaving for Yale after spending five days at the Houston Pre-NBA Draft Camp, Thursday through Monday.

Flenorl was granted the opportunity to participate in the camp, which is run for professional teams' scouts, with the help of Ohio head coach Larry Hunter.

Hunter called his close friend who was running the camp. Flenorl could only remember the man's name was "Seth" and "Coach Hunter was like a mentor to him."

The camp was run, like any other, with games, practice and strength and conditioning exercises.

Players such as Jason Singleton of Ohio State and Karim Reid of Arkansas participated at the camp.

"There was good competition," Flenorl said. "It went pretty well. I averaged about 10 (points) and six (rebounds) a game.

"I had a lot of fun and learned about what it takes to get to the next level. I think I've got a good chance at playing overseas or maybe even the NBA."

The primary foreign league that Flenorl is looking into is the International Basketball League. He said the IBL pays $40,000 to $50,000 a year to start and salaries can go up to about $150,000 a year. In comparison, he said the Continental Basketball Association in the United States pays up to $20,000 a year.

Flenorl will be participating in an IBL camp May 21-29. He said a few sports agents have already contacted him.

Flenorl said Ohio's other departing senior, guard LaDrell Whitehead, is currently playing in a professional league in Turkey.