Coach Jones Named Ben Jobe Award Finalist
BOSTON, Mass. – UNC Greensboro (UNCG) men's basketball Head Coach Mike Jones was named a 2024-25 Ben Jobe National Coach of the Year finalist, announced by the organization.
CollegeInsider.com Announces Ben Jobe National Coach of the Year Finalists BOSTON, Mass.
– UNC Greensboro (UNCG) men's basketball Head Coach Mike Jones was named a 2024-25 Ben Jobe National Coach of the Year finalist, announced by the organization.The Ben Jobe Award, which is presented annually to the top Division I minority coach, is named in honor of one of the finest men to ever coach college basketball. Jobe is best known as the head coach of Southern University, a position he held for 12 seasons. He was also the head coach at Alabama A&M, Alabama State, Talladega, Tuskegee and South Carolina State.
His record at Southern was 209-141 and included four NCAA Tournament appearances. He also coached the Jaguars to one NIT appearance, five SIAC championships, 11 SWAC titles and two NAIA Tournament Championships. Perhaps his most memorable moment as a coach was leading No. 15 seed Southern to a 93-78 win over No. 2 Georgia Tech in the first round of the 1993 NCAA Tournament. It stands as one of the great upsets in the history of the event. Coach Jobe passed away on March 10, 2017.
Coach Jones is in his fourth year at the helm of the Spartans, accumulating a record of 78-50 during his time with the Blue & Gold. This season he led the Spartans to a 20-12 overall record and a 13-5 Southern Conference (SoCon) mark.
This was his eighth year with 20 or more wins as a head coach, with five of them being at Radford. This was the third-straight year for Jones with 20 or more wins as a Spartan. Jones was a finalist for the Ben Jobe Award in 2014, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2023, 2024 and now 2025.
For the Spartans, this was the eighth time with 20 or more wins over the last nine years.
UNCG was voted to finish sixth in the 2024-25 SoCon Preseason Coaches' Poll. They claimed the second seed heading into the 2024 SoCon Tournament.
The 2024-25 squad is nationally ranked 16th in field goal percentage defense (40.0), 16th in three-point percentage defense (30.1), 24th in turnovers per game (9.9), 25th in scoring defense (65.4) and 33rd in three-point percentage (37.2).
The recipient of the annual award is determined by a 10-member voting committee, which consists of current and former head coaches, as well as two senior staff members of collegeinsider.com.
The 2025 award will be announced in San Antonio, Texas, site of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship.
BEN JOBE AWARD FINALISTS
| Alvin Brooks | Lamar |
| Penny Collins | Tennessee State |
| Chris Crutchfield | Omaha |
| Travis DeCuire | Montana |
| Dennis Gates | Missouri |
| Penny Hardaway | Memphis |
| Cornelius Jackson | Marshall |
| Kevin Johnson | Southern |
| James Jones | Yale |
| Mike Jones | UNCG |
| Robert Jones | Norfolk State |
| Chris Markwood | Maine |
| Erik Martin | South Carolina State |
| Ritchie McKay | Liberty |
| Antoine Pettway | Kennesaw State |
| Richie Riley | South Alabama |
| Daniyal Robinson | Cleveland State |
| Kelvin Sampson | Houston |
| Patrick Sellers | Central Connecticut State |
| Takayo Siddle | UNCW |
| Duane Simpkins | American |
| Tony Skinn | George Mason |
| Shaka Smart | Marquette |
| Damon Stoudamire | Georgia Tech |
| Drew Valentine | Loyola Chicago |
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