The team will be determined at the World Team Trials, in Cincinnati, June 22-24. Mark Manning of Lincoln, Neb., will serve as head coach.
Jones, a native of Ann Arbor, Mich., who was the top-ranked freestyle wrestler in the United States while competing at Arizona State, will get a taste of coaching the team at the 2001 World Cup of Freestyle Wrestling, May 5-6, in Baltimore.
"It is a tremendous honor to coach America's current and future Olympians and help them prepare for the World Cup and World Championships," Jones said. "I'm looking forward to the challenge of preparing our wrestlers to compete against the best that the world has to offer."
The United States is a world power in men's freestyle wrestling, having claimed the team title in 1993 and 1995. The USA won five freestyle medals at the 1996 Olympics and four freestyle medals at the 2000 Olympics.
Jones was a member of the 1996 and 2000 U.S. Olympic freestyle coaching staff and was head coach for the 1999 U.S. World Cup team, which won the team title in Spokane, Wash. He was also a coach with the 2000 Pan American Championships team, that also won the team title.
Jones was one of the greatest freestyle wrestlers in U.S. history. He won a gold medal at 114.5 pounds at the 1991 World Championships in Varna, Bulgaria, and an Olympic silver medal at the 1992 Summer Games in Barcelona, Spain. Jones added a bronze medal at the 1995 World Championships in Atlanta.
In addition, he placed fourth in the 1990 and 1993 World Championships and was a member of the 1993 and 1995 U.S. World teams, which claimed the world team title for the United States. Jones also won gold medals at numerous major competitions including four World Cups, the 1995 Pan American Games and the 1994 Goodwill Games.
Before moving to Morgantown, W.Va., to join the Mountaineer coaching staff in 1998, Jones, a former three-time All-American at Arizona State, helped the Sun Devils to some of its finest years in its rich wrestling history. He helped coach the Sun Devils to fourth place finishes in the 1993 and 1995 NCAA Championships, and from 1993 to 1996 ASU would have four top 10 finishes (4th, 8th, 4th, and 10th place). Jones helped the Sun Devils to four Pac-10 team crowns, including a Pac-10 record 152.75 team points in 1993. In 1997, the Sun Devils also set an ASU record of nine qualifiers to the NCAA Tournament. Overall, the Sun Devils, under Jones' guidance, they had three NCAA champions, 13 individuals with 21 All-American honors, and lead the Sun Devils to 19 individual Pac-10 titles. In the classroom, 37 Sun Devils were named scholar-athletes of the year.