Men's Basketball | 3/5/2025 3:11:00 PM
NORFOLK, Va. – Norfolk State men's basketball head coach Robert Jones has been named a finalist for the 2024-25 Ben Jobe Award by College, announced by CollegeInsider.com on Wednesday afternoon.
The award is presented annually to the top minority head coach in Division I college basketball.
The Ben Jobe Award is named in honor of one of the most iconic coaches in the history of basketball at Historically Black Colleges and Universities. He is best known as the head coach of 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.
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.
Jones has led Norfolk State to another remarkable campaign this season, despite losing last year's MEAC Player of the Year (Jamarii Thomas) and MEAC Sixth Player of the Year (Allen Betrand). The Spartans remain tied for first in the conference with one regular season game left on the schedule, hunting for the fifth regular season title of Jones' tenure.
Norfolk State leads the MEAC in fastbreak points (16.2), field goal percentage defense (.416), free throw percentage (.758), and scoring defense (.695). The Spartans currently stand No. 187 in the NCAA Net Rankings, bolstered by impressive nonconference wins against High Point (86) and James Madison (156).
The recipient of the 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, TX, site of the men's Division I Basketball Championship.
For complete coverage of Norfolk State Athletics, please follow the Spartans on social media at @nsuspartans (X), /NorfolkStateAthletics (Facebook), @NSUAthletics (Instagram), @nsuathletics (YouTube) or visit the official home of Norfolk State Athletics at nsuspartans.com.