Men’s Basketball: Elon’s Matheny Named Finalist for Hugh Durham Award

BOSTON, Mass. – Elon University men’s basketball head coach Matt Matheny was named a finalist for the Hugh Durham Award on Wednesday, March 13. CollegeInsider.com presents the award annually to the nation’s top mid-major coach.

Matheny has guided the Phoenix to 21-11 record this season, including a 13-5 mark in conference play. The 2013 Southern Conference Coach of the Year by the SoCon Media, Matheny led Elon to the Southern Conference North Division title for the first time since 2006 with a win at Samford on Feb. 21. Matheny has helped the Phoenix increase its win total in each of his four seasons at the helm. The 13 conference wins in 2013 are the most for Elon since joining the league in 2004. Elon’s 21 victories this season are the most in the school’s Division I era and most since the 1973-74 season. Matheny led Elon to the semifinals of the 2013 SoCon Tournament for the second straight season this year.

The award is named in honor of Hugh Durham who had retired at the end of the 2004-05 season. Durham is one of just twelve coaches to have led two different programs to the NCAA Final Four (Florida State in 1972 and Georgia in 1983). He is the only coach among that group to have led both schools to their lone Final Four appearance. The 2013 award will be presented at the CollegeInsider.com awards banquet in Atlanta, site of the men’s NCAA Basketball Championship.

2013 Hugh Durham Award Finalists
Jim Baron (Canisius)
Rick Byrd (Belmont)
Bill Coen (Northeastern)
Keith Dambrot (Akron)
Kermit Davis (Middle Tennessee)
Billy Donlon (Wright State)
Andy Enfield (Florida Gulf Coast)
Anthony Evans (Norfolk State)
Chris Holtmann (Gardner-Webb)
Danny Kaspar (Stephen F. Austin)
Matt Matheny (Elon)
Joe Mihalich (Niagara)
Jim Molinari (Western Illinois)
LeVelle Moton (North Carolina Central)
Steve Pikiell (Stony Brook)
Joe Scott (Denver)
Pat Skerry (Towson)
Zach Spiker (Army)
Wayne Tinkle (Montana)
Tod Kowalczyk (Toledo)
Michael White (Louisiana Tech)