Courtesy of Morgan State Athletic Communications
2021 Ben Jobe Award Finalists
BALTIMORE, Md., March 9, 2021 -- After guiding the Morgan State men's basketball team to some of the most exciting action seen anywhere in the 2020-21 season, head coach Kevin Broadus was named a finalist for the Ben Jobe Award, as announced by CollegeInsider.com.
The Ben Jobe Award is presented annually to the top minority coach in Division I men's basketball during Final Four weekend, but with the event's cancelation, Pacific's Damon Stoudamire was announced as the winner at the same time of the release of finalists. An icon in the history of basketball at Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Jobe is best known as the head coach of the Southern University, a position he held for 12 seasons. He was also head coach at Alabama A&M, Alabama State, Talladega, Tuskegee and South Carolina State.
Despite the challenges created by the coronavirus pandemic, Broadus' Bears (12-7) proved to be most resilient on the road. They posted their best road record (12-3) since 2009-10 (12-7) and earned the program's first wins against Iona (MAAC), 83-72, Delaware (CAA), 65-59 and James Madison (CAA), 80-73.
Morgan's 99-41 victory against St. Mary's College of Maryland on Jan. 21 was the start of a 5-game winning streak that end on Feb. 6 with a 74-69 win against Delaware State.
Morgan led the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference in a number of statistical categories: scoring 80.7 ppg (20th best mark in the country), scoring margin (+7.1), free throw pct. (.742), rebound margin (+3.0), rebounding offense (39.1), offensive rebounds (13.2), offensive reb. pct. (.346). and assists (15.5). The Bears have also made 162 3-pointers on 34.8% shooting from behind the arc (ranked No. 2 in the MEAC).
On the national level, Morgan ranks No. 8 in turnovers forced, No. 10 in offensive rebounds per game, No. 20 in points per game, eighth in free-throw percentage, No. 30 total rebounds per game and No. 46 in assists.
Morgan finished third in the league standings at 7-5 following a second-place preseason selection and received three league awards for its efforts. Senior Troy Baxter (1st), and juniors Malik Miller and De'Torrion Ware (2nd) marked the first time since 2012-13 that three Bears earned All-Conference honors, while Baxter and Miller became the first-ever duo to earn All-Defensive accolades.
Baxter finished the regular season as the league's leading scorer (17.1 ppg), grabbed 4.8 rebounds and third in blocks (1.6 avg). Baxter was joined by Ware (15.5 ppg, 5.2 rpg) and Miller (12.5 ppg, 7.9 rpg, 2.0 apg) in averaging double figures in points.