Newton Mealer continues to raise the bar at Jones College as he returns for his sixth season as its head men's basketball coach.
Mealer has compiled a fantastic 115-40 (.742) overall record with three straight NJCAA Region 23/Gulf District Championships and a pair of MACCC titles in 2023-24 and 2024-25.
Mealer's 115 victories, 81 of those in the last three years, are second-most in program history behind A.B. Howard, whom the gymnasium is named after.
The three-time NJCAA Region 23 Coach of the Year and two-time MACCC Coach of the Year led Jones to a program-record 30 wins in 2024-25, including a perfect 18-0 at home, its first undefeated season at home in 11 years. The Bobcats were ranked fourth in the NJCAA's final poll, also a program-best.
Jones has made three consecutive NJCAA Division I Tournaments for the first-time ever, earning the No. 5 seed in the 2024-25 season, its highest-ever, and was the No. 16 seed last year.
Jones boasted the MACCC Player of the Year in consecutive seasons in LJ Hackman (2025) and Dimp Pernell (2024).
Getting players to the next level has been one of Mealer's top priorities. Twenty-four players have moved on, including Jones' entire starting five from the 2024-25 season to Division I programs and three off the 2025-26 team to DI schools.
The Bobcats went 17-11 and finished as NJCAA Region 23 runner-up in Mealer's second year and all but one of his eight sophomores signed with a four-year program.
Mealer led the Bobcats to a 17-8 record and No. 10 NJCAA national ranking at one point during the 2021-22 campaign. Jones opened the year with 10 consecutive wins, including a road upset of No. 3 Chipola, 80-78, in the Panhandle Classic.
Mealer, the 17th head men's basketball coach in school history, coached at Center Hill High School for 12 seasons before coming to Ellisville.
Mealer played at Southern Miss under longtime head coach M.K. Turk from 1989-93. He helped the Golden Eagles to two NCAA Tournament appearances and Metro Conference regular season title. Southern Miss ranked as high as No. 9 in the AP poll during the 1991 season.
Mealer listed several senior college coaches who have helped his career, including former Jones and current Southern Miss coach Jay Ladner, former Ole Miss coach Kermit Davis, Jr., and Georgia Tech coach Josh Pastner, who used to be the head coach at Memphis.
At Center Hill, Mealer guided the team to its first 5A MHSAA championship in school history in 2019 and a state runner-up slot in 2020. This past season, the Mustangs were the District 1-5A champions and made it to the 5A MHSAA Elite 8.
Mealer led Center Hill to seven district championships, five Elite 8 appearances, four state tournaments and two Final Fours. The 2019 championship team set the school record for most wins with 31.
He was named the Jackson Clarion-Ledger, USA Today, MHSAA and NFHS Mississippi Coach of the Year following the championship season and served as the North head coach for the Mississippi All-Star Game in 2020.
During his time at Center Hill, he produced over 65 NCAA Division I, II and III and junior college players.
Prior to Center Hill, Mealer served as head coach at Germantown (Tenn.) High School for four seasons. He was named 15AAA Coach of the Year in 2008-09 and led them to 24 wins that season, a school record. At Germantown, he coached future NBA Player Ian Clark with the Golden State Warriors.
From 2001-06, he was the head basketball coach and athletic director at Lighthouse Christian School in Tennessee, building the program from the bottom up. He led the program into the TSSAA, took the team to its first regional tournament, set a record for wins with 22 in 2004 and was named District 1 Coach of the Year in 2002 and 2003.
After graduating from Southern Miss, Mealer was in the NBA Summer League in 1993 and 1994, playing with Atlanta and Los Angeles.
He was the owner/manager of Newton Mealer's "Hoop It Up" Basketball Camp from 1994-2009. He organized and ran youth basketball camps throughout the city of Memphis.
Mealer served as head coach of the Memphis Raiders AAU program from 2008-14, leading them to a national championship in 2011 and a runner-up spot in 2012.
Mealer graduated from Briarcrest High School in Memphis and was inducted into the school's Hall of Fame in 2013.
He is the school's all-time leading scorer and rebounder and was a McDonald's All-American Team nominee from Tennessee. He was the Memphis and Shelby County Player of the Year, averaging double figures in points and rebounds and he served as a 3-year captain.
Mealer played on a team that represented the USA in Europe, Austria, Finland and Czechoslovakia. The team won the World Championship Gold Medal.
Mealer and his wife, Jenny, have three children: Jake, Kurt and Hope.
