Former NBA Coach K.C. Jones Tries Women’s ABL

HARTFORD, Conn. — K.C. Jones, the former NBA coach and Celtics guard who was on 12 championship teams, was hired Monday as coach of the New England Blizzard--a coup for the fledgling women’s American Basketball League.

The ABL and the Blizzard said they would hold a news conference today to welcome the NBA Hall of Famer.

“I think it really shows that basketball is basketball,” said Pam Batalis, general manager of the Blizzard. “The perception and acceptance of women’s sports has come a long way.”

Jones, an assistant with Boston this past season, played for the Celtics from 1958-67--eight of them title seasons.

He won two more titles as an assistant coach (one with the Lakers in 1972).

He then coached the Celtics to two more titles, posting the best regular-season (.751) and playoff (.637) winning percentage in team history.

The past three weeks have been especially good for the ABL, which just completed its first season and is competing against the NBA-backed WNBA. The rival league opens its first season in June.

Last month, the ABL announced a new franchise in Long Beach and the signings of Connecticut star Kara Wolters, The Associated Press player of the year; Kate Starbird, Stanford’s career scoring leader and winner of the 1997 Naismith Award; All-American forward Shalonda Enis from Alabama; and several other top players.

“We’ve been doing very well in terms of competing for players and signing coaches,” said Gary Cavalli, the ABL’s chief executive and co-founder. “To hire K.C. Jones is the capper.”

Talks between the Blizzard and Jones began nearly a month ago when the Celtics’ season ended, Batalis said. He signed with the team over the weekend.

“He made it known to us that the ABL is something he liked, considering what we’d accomplished this first year,” Batalis said.

Jones replaces Cliff Foster, who resigned as Blizzard coach in March after a 16-24 record.

Jones “exemplifies a winning tradition, and tradition is something we’re trying to establish at the Blizzard,” Batalis said.