NORFOLK, Va. – Norfolk State men’s basketball head coach Anthony Evans was named one of 20 finalists for the Ben Jobe Award on Monday afternoon as announced by CollegeInsider.com. The award is presented annually to the top minority coach in Division I men’s basketball.

Evans was recently named the MEAC Coach of the Year after leading the Spartans to an unblemished 16-0 record in the conference, including 21-10 overall, a year after losing four starters from NSU’s first-ever MEAC Championship team. The Spartans are currently in the midst of a 15-game win streak, the second-longest such streak in the nation, and recently finished 11-0 at home for their first undefeated home season since 1970-71.

The other finalists for the Ben Jobe Award include Tommy Amaker (Harvard), Mike Anderson (Arkansas), Kevin Baggett (Rider), Roman Banks (Southern), Jamion Christian (Mount St. Mary's), Mike Davis (Texas Southern), Anthony Grant (Alabama), James Green (Jacksonville State), Frank Haith (Missouri), Joe Jones (Boston University), Cuonzo Martin (Tennessee), Bashir Mason (Wagner), Ray McCallum (Detroit), Marvin Menzies (New Mexico State), Howard Moore (Illinois-Chicago), LeVelle Moton (North Carolina Central), Kevin Ollie (Connecticut), Shaka Smart (VCU) and John Thompson III (Georgetown).

The award is named after Ben Jobe, who held head coaching jobs at HBCU’s Southern, Alabama A&M, Alabama State, Talladega, Tuskegee and South Carolina State. Jobe led Southern to four NCAA tournament appearances, including a first-round upset of Georgia Tech in 1993.