A longtime fixture in Killeen ISD basketball reached a career milestone Friday and carved out another spot in the record books.
With Ellison’s 67-61 road win over Lake Belton in District 16-5A action, head coach Alberto Jones Jr. notched career win No. 462 –– the most for a basketball coach during their time in charge of a KISD program.
Currently the district’s longest-tenured basketball head coach, Jones, in Year 18 at the helm of his alma mater, surpassed former influential Killeen High head coach Bo Burgess, who amassed 461 wins during 20 seasons with the Roos. Burgess retired at the end of the 2004-2005 campaign.
“I’m beyond grateful and give all praise to God for allowing me to do something I love for 18 years and to be successful at it for so long,” Jones said. “This is a testament to the type of program we have here and the expectation we have, and all of the great kids we’ve had here over the last 20 to 30 years.”
Jones, a 1998 EHS graduate, took over the Eagles’ reins in 2008. Those nearly two decades so far are packed with 16 playoff appearances and seven district titles, and Ellison currently is in the midst of a remarkable run of three consecutive Class 5A state tournament appearances, including state title games in 2023 and 2024.
Along the way, Jones became Ellison’s all-time winningest basketball coach in 2022, passing mentor and former standout head coach David Manley with win No. 347.
The Eagles are 16-12 overall this season and a three-game winning streak puts them at 3-2 in district with five games left in the regular season.
Burgess coached eight seasons outside KISD and ended his career with 618 wins over the course of 28 years. Current Harker Heights boys basketball head coach Jason Fossett, who took over for Burgess at Killeen High (2005-2012), sits atop the overall career-win mountain among active KISD basketball coaches with 559 wins, though 2444 of those are with KISD teams. Former Harker Heights head coach Celneque Bobbitt netted 443 wins while with the Knights from 2000-2022.