VIDALIA — Johnny Jones remembers the good old days, when LSU hoops fans would camp out the night before a big men’s basketball game in front of Pete Maravich Assembly Center.

He remembers the noisy student section, when the “Front Row Lunatics” would give opposing teams trouble.

After several disappointing seasons, Jones was hired in April to replace former men’s coach Trent Johnson and get the Tigers back to winning basketball.

When Jones addressed members of the Miss-Lou LSU Alumni Chapter Thursday night, he said his goal is to build a program LSU fans can be proud of.

The Miss-Lou chapter hosted its annual banquet at the Vidalia Conference and Convention Center, and Jones, a former LSU player and assistant, said it was good to mingle with local Tiger fans and alumni.

“You have to make sure you reach out to (your fan base) and let them know how important they are,” Jones said. “If you have that fan support there in the stands, it’s remarkable what it does for your recruiting.”

Jones was a player at LSU from 1980-84 under coach Dale Brown, and he coached at LSU as an assistant from 1985 until 1997. He has spent the past 11 seasons as head coach at North Texas, where he compiled a 190-146 record.

The Tigers will have only five returning players from last season, and only three of them saw significant playing time, Jones said. The coaches have not had a chance to do much with the team yet other than conditioning work at 6 a.m. each morning.

“We just had our first team meeting on Sunday, and all the guys weren’t able to get back,” Jones said. “Next week, we’ll start individual skill work.”

Coaching under Brown at LSU was a special experience, and Jones said he’ll be looking to emulate the atmosphere Brown created with the team.

“We were a family atmosphere, great environment and we had tremendous athletes,” Jones said. “The chemistry was great.”

With national championship trophies in football, baseball and track, Jones said it’s good for the program to be surrounded by other good programs.

“Why not basketball?” Jones asked the audience, and he said his goal is to add a national title to the men’s hoops trophy case.

Jones was a member of the 1981 LSU Final Four team as a player, and he helped coach the 1986 team to the Final Four as an assistant.