HONOLULU — The head coach of the Old Dominion University men’s basketball team was hospitalized from a heart attack on Wednesday night while the Monarchs prepared to compete in the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic tournament.

Jeff Jones was “resting comfortably and expecting to make a full recovery,” according to a news release by the Norfolk, Va., school on Thursday.

Jones, 63, will not coach the Sun Belt Conference team for the duration of the tournament, which began Thursday morning. Old Dominion (3-6) took the court to compete against TCU under interim coach Kieran Donohue.

TCU coach Jamie Dixon wished Jones well after the Horned Frogs set a DHC tournament scoring record in defeating the Monarchs 111-87. It was only a six-point game at halftime.

"Coach Jones seems to be OK from what everybody's been telling me. We're good friends," said Dixon, a former University of Hawaii assistant coach. "We're both past presidents of the NABC (National Association of Basketball Coaches), so I've known him for a long time. I was with him two nights ago, I was with him yesterday night. It seems that he's OK in talking to their people and their athletic director (Camden Wood Selig). That's first and foremost. I thought their guys responded and played in a unique situation, played hard and got after it and kept going 'til the end, outscored us down the stretch."

Per ODU, Jones thanked Dr. Brandon Itagaki and the Straub Medical Center team, as well as ODU athletic trainer Jason Mitchell, for their prompt care and expertise.

Jones is in his 11^th year coaching ODU. He formerly was the head coach at Virginia and American.

Note: The story has been updated with comments from TCU coach Jamie Dixon after his team's win over ODU. (Dec. 21, 2023)

Brian McInnis covers the state's sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.