In Memoriam: John Paul Jones

Arena’s namesake dies at 100

Oh yes, John Paul Jones (Law ’48) was a basketball fan.

The namesake of UVA’s basketball arena, who died Nov. 20, 2020, at 100, loved his Wahoos and his hometown NBA team, the Memphis Grizzlies. His passion for both only grew in his later years, his son, Paul Tudor Jones (Col ’76), said in a 2016 interview.

“It literally is what keeps him going,” he said then.

A former attorney and newspaper publisher, Jones, who went by “Jack,” lived long enough to see Virginia win the 2019 national championship. The “JPJ,” funded by a lead gift of $35 million from Paul Tudor Jones given in his father’s name, has become one of college basketball’s most celebrated venues, an appropriate legacy for a lifelong hoops fan.

—Ed Miller