Head coach Ricky Austin has announced the hiring of Tuti Jones as an assistant coach. Jones was a highly decorated player at Belmont throughout his six seasons playing for the Belmont Bruins.
Jones ranks fourth in NCAA Division I women’s basketball history with 169 games played during her impressive playing career at Belmont. Jones was on the All-Missouri Valley Conference Second Team, All-MVC Defensive Team, MVC Scholar-Athlete Team, and named the MVC Scholar-Athlete of the Year in 2025-26. She was also on the 2026 DI-AAA ADA Scholar-Athlete Team, the 2025-26 CSC Academic All-District Team, and won the 2025-26 Winter State Farm MVC Good Neighbor Award in her final season at Belmont. She also is a 2026 WBCA “So You Want To Be A Coach” Program Graduate.
Her redshirt senior season in 2024-25 saw Jones average 10.2 points, 3.6 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 2.3 steals, and 29.5 minutes per game. Meanwhile, in her graduate season in 2025-26, Jones averaged 9.6 points, 5.0 rebounds, 3.8 assists, and 3.2 steals per contest in 32.8 minutes per game. In her six seasons at Belmont, Jones started in 168 of 169 games played.
As a redshirt senior, Jones was named to the 2024-25 All-MCV Third Team, 2024-25 MVC All-Defensive Team, 2025 DI-AAA ADA Scholar-Athlete Team, the 2024-25 MVC Scholar-Athlete First Team, and 2024-25 CSC Academic All-District Team. Her redshirt junior season saw Jones named to the 2023-24 MVC Scholar-Athlete First Team and the 2023-24 CSC Academic All-District Team.
In 2023-24, Jones set Belmont’s NCAA era career-steals record in the MVC Tournament quarterfinal win over UIC with her second steal of the game on March 15. She had a career-high tying seven steals against UIC in the conference tournament and added 16 points, two rebounds, and two assists. She scored 1,000th career point against Illinois State on March 9. Jones averaged 11.1 points, 4.0 rebounds, 3.9 assists, and 2.5 steals as a redshirt junior.
In 2022-23, Jones utilized her redshirt year after suffering a season-ending injury against Georgia Tech on Dec. 4. Through the first eight games of that season, Jones averaged 11 points, 5.1 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 1.3 steals, and 34.8 minutes per game. She scored a season-high 16 points against nationally-ranked Villanova on Nov. 25 and Grabbed a career-high tying 11 rebounds against Georgia Tech on Nov. 26.
In her sophomore year, Jones was named to the 2021-22 All-OVC First Team and was chosen as the 2021-22 OVC Defensive Player of the Year. She was the only player in the country to average over 10.0 points, 4.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists, and 2.5 steals while shooting over 40 percent from three. Jones was the second Belmont player ever to be named the Ohio Valley Conference Player of the year. She started all 31 games as a sophomore and led her team in minutes played with 1,004. In the NCAA Tournament, Jones averaged 19.5 points, 6.0 rebounds, 3.0 steals, and 2.5 assists against fifth-seeded Oregon and 18th-ranked Tennessee while shooting 61 percent from the floor and 75 percent from three.
As a freshman in 2020-21 for the Bruins, Jones averaged 9.4 points, 4.6 rebounds, 3.0 steals, and 1.9 assists across 24 games. She led the then 12-team OVC and ranked ninth nationally in steals per game, while also ranking sixth in the country in total steals. She was the only freshman in the country to average at least 9.0 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 3.0 steals.
Before her time at Belmont, Jones played for her mother, Dyneshia Jones-Elder, at Charles Henderson High School in Troy, Ala. Jones helped Charles Henderson to a perfect 29-0 record and a Class 5A title her senior year. They were also a Class 5A state runner-up in 2017, won the state title in 2018, and reached the state finals her junior year. She was named to the Alabama Sports Writers Association Class 5A All-State First Team in 2019 and earned ASWA Super All-State honors in 2020. She was the No. 31 ranked prospect in the nation at her position by ESPN. Jones played AAU ball with the Alabama Southern Starz who are members of the Nike Elite Youth Basketball League.
Jones received her bachelor's degree in sport administration in May of 2024. She also earned her master’s degree in Belmont’s Master of Sport Administration program. Her mother played college basketball at Troy before enjoying a 25-year career as head coach at Charles Henderson. Her mother claimed 433 wins and two state championships at Charles Henderson.
