Courtesy of Norfolk State Athletic Communications
NORFOLK, Va. – Norfolk State head men's basketball coach Robert Jones was named a finalist for a pair of awards from CollegeInsider.com this week.
He is one of 25 finalists for both the Ben Jobe and Skip Prosser Man of the Year Awards, handed out by CollegeInsider every year. The Ben Jobe Award is given to the top minority coach in Division I basketball. The Skip Prosser Award is bestowed upon a D-I coach who achieves success on the court and displays moral integrity off of it.
Jones won the Skip Prosser Award in 2019. He has been a finalist for the Ben Jobe Award a total of four times previously from 2015-17 and again in 2019.
He led the Spartans this year to a 14-7 regular season record and a share of the MEAC Northern Division title at 8-4. He owns a 139-118 overall record in his eight seasons as head coach, including 92-32 in the league. Jones' 74.2 winning percentage in conference games ranks fourth in the country among head coaches with at least five years at their current school.
Jones is the only MEAC coach up for the Skip Prosser Award and one of three league coaches up for the Ben Jobe Award along with Will Jones of North Carolina A&T and Kevin Broadus of Morgan State.
The Ben Jobe Award is named after the former Southern head coach who made four NCAA tournament appearances and led the Jaguars to an upset of No. 2 seed Georgia Tech in the 1993 tournament. He went 209-141 in his 12 years at Southern while also coaching at Alabama A&M, Alabama State, Talladega, Tuskegee and South Carolina State.
The Skip Prosser Award is named after the former Wake Forest head coach who passed away suddenly in 2007 from an apparent heart attack. He was 291-146 in 14 seasons between Loyola (Md.), Xavier and Wake Forest.
Winners will be announced on April 1.
Ben Jobe Award Finalists
Mike Boynton, Oklahoma State
Wayne Brent, Jackson State
Kevin Broadus, Morgan State
Isaac Brown, Wichita State
Dana Ford, Missouri State
Dennis Gates, Cleveland State
Leonard Hamilton, Florida State
Lew Hill, UTRGV
Shaheen Holloway, Saint Peter's
Juwan Howard, Michigan
Stan Johnson, Loyola Marymount
Terrence Johnson, Texas State
Mike Jones, Radford
Robert Jones, Norfolk State
Will Jones, North Carolina A&T State
Rob Lanier, Georgia State
Shantay Legans, Eastern Washington
Mike Magpayo, UC Riverside
Bashir Mason, Wagner
Ritchie McKay, Liberty
Lamont Paris, Chattanooga
Richie Riley, South Alabama
Kelvin Sampson, Houston
Shaka Smart, Texas
Byron Smith, Prairie View A&M
Skip Prosser Man of the Year Award Finalists
Casey Alexander, Belmont
Chris Beard, Texas Tech
Mike Boynton, Oklahoma State
Wayne Brent, Jackson State
John Dunne, Marist
Dana Ford, Missouri State
Leonard Hamilton, Florida State
Lew Hill, UTRGV
Chris Holtmann, Ohio State
Michael Huger, Bowling Green
Donte' Jackson, Grambling
Mike Jones, Radford
Robert Jones, Norfolk State
Pat Kelsey, Winthrop
Tod Kowalczyk, Toledo
Greg Lansing, Indiana State
Shantay Legans, Eastern Washington
Carmen Maciariello, Siena
Bob Marlin, Louisiana
Ryan Odom, UMBC
Lamont Paris, Chattanooga
Mark Schmidt, St. Bonaventure
Rob Senderoff, Kent State
Todd Simon, Southern Utah
Byron Smith, Prairie View A&M