NORFOLK, Va. – Norfolk State men’s basketball head coach Robert Jones was named a finalist for the Ben Jobe Award on Wednesday, presented annually to the top minority head coach in Division I basketball.
He is one of 21 coaches across the more than 340 D-I schools to earn the distinction of being nominated for the award. Jones, in his third season leading the Spartan program, guided Norfolk State to a 12-4 MEAC record this year and a 17-17 overall mark. NSU finished in a tie for second place in the league with South Carolina State and advanced to the semifinal round for the third straight year under Jones.
It marks the second straight year he was nominated for the Ben Jobe Award and the third year in a row Jones was nominated for an award from CollegeInsider.com. He owns a 35-13 conference record as well as a 56-46 overall mark since taking over the program prior to the 2013-14 campaign.
The other finalists for this year’s Ben Jobe Award include Roman Banks (Southern), Rod Barnes (CSU Bakersfield), Wayne Brent (Jackson State), Ed Cooley (Providence), Mike Davis (Texas Southern), Dana Ford (Tennessee State), Murray Garvin (South Carolina State), Avery Johnson (Alabama), James Jones (Yale), Edward Joyner Jr. (Hampton), Kevin Keatts (UNCW), Bashir Mason (Wagner), Mark Montgomery (Northern Illinois), King Rice (Monmouth), Montez Robinson (Alcorn State), Kelvin Sampson (Houston), Shaka Smart (Texas), Tubby Smith (Texas Tech), Rodney Terry (Fresno State), Willis Wilson (Texas A&M Corpus Christi).
Jones is one of three MEAC coaches to be nominated along with Garvin and Joyner. Another MEAC coach, Bobby Collins of UMES, won the award last year.
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.
The recipient of the 2016 award will be announced at the CollegeInsider.com Awards Banquet on April 4 in Houston, site of this year’s Final Four.
For more information visit www.nsuspartans.com.