Andréa Jones ‘02 Returns Home to Coach Cheltenham Girls Basketball

The starting point guard on the Cheltenham Panthers’ Girls Basketball 2000 state championship team, Andréa Jones ‘02 is returning home to coach her former team. Most recently, Jones had served as Cedarbrook Middle School’s girls basketball coach for five seasons.

“We are thrilled to welcome Andréa, a distinguished Cheltenham High School alumna and former player, back to the Cheltenham Athletic Family in this exciting new role,” said Cheltenham athletic director Sam Sheridan. “Our community is proud to see one of our own return as head coach, continuing a tradition of excellence and inspiring current and future athletes.”

In 2006, Jones began her coaching career as the ninth grade girls basketball coach at Cheltenham and contributed as a varsity scout during the team’s second state championship season in 2007. She also coached AAU for Fencor during this time, and has since continued to coach AAU teams while working at various camps. Jones is the director and lead coach of her own AAU program, Pesky (Purposely Empowering Skills and Knowledge Year-Round) Ballers, which is entering its third season. 

“I thought about the girls and the program that once was and after talking about this with former Lady Panthers, I figured why not step into this position?” said Jones, who is one of a handful of 1,000 point scorers in program history with 1,190 points. “I have been asked to coach at other schools and never accepted the positions because in my heart I am always a Lady Panther. This is where my basketball career began, and this feels like home to me.”