UNCG Men’s Basketball Head Coach Mike Jones Named Ben Jobe Award Finalist
BOSTON, Mass. – UNC Greensboro (UNCG) men’s basketball Head Coach Mike Jones was named a 2023-24 Ben Jobe National Coach of the Year finalist, announced last week.
The Ben Jobe Award, which is presented annually to the top Division I minority coach, is named in honor of one of the finest men to ever play college basketball.
Coach Jones is in his third year at the helm of the Spartans accumulating a record of 58-38 during his time with the Blue & Gold. This season he reached the 20-win mark with a 21-11 overall mark and a 12-6 Southern Conference (SoCon) record.
This was his seventh year with a 20-win record as a head coach, with five of them being at Radford. Jones was a finalist for the Ben Jobe Award in 2014, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2023 and now 2024.
For the Spartans, this was the seventh time with 20 or more wins in eight years.
UNCG was voted to finish second in the 2023-24 SoCon Preseason Coaches’ Poll and fourth in the Media Poll. They claimed the second seed heading into the 2024 SoCon Tournament.
The Spartans won the 2023 Baha Mar Hoops Nassau Championship in November. The 2023-24 squad made history as a team defeating then-ranked No. 14 Arkansas, 78-72, in Fayetteville for the programs first ranked win. As a team, UNCG is nationally ranked fourth in three-point percentage (39.7), 12th in three pointers per game (10.1), 31st in field goal percentage defense (41.0), and 37th in effective field goal percentage (0.546).
2024 BEN JOBE AWARD FINALISTS
Amir Abdur-Rahim
South Florida
Tony Barbee
Central Michigan
Kenny Blakeney
Howard
Alvin Brooks
Lamar
Craig Claxton
Hofstra
Donald Copeland
Wagner
Hubert Davis
North Carolina
Corey Gipson
Austin Peay
Justin Gray
Western Carolina
Talvin Hester
Louisiana Tech
Donte’ Jackson
Grambling
Kevin Johnson
Southern
James Jones
Yale
Mike Jones
UNCG
Robert Jones
Norfolk State
Erik Martin
South Carolina State
Bashir Mason
Saint Peter’s
Lamont Paris
South Carolina
Tevon Saddler
Nicholls
Kelvin Sampson
Houston
Patrick Sellers
Central Connecticut
Shaka Smart
Marquette
K.T. Turner
UT Arlington
Drew Valentine
Loyola Chicago
Darrell Walker
Little Rock
2024 BEN JOBE AWARD NATIONAL COACH OF THE YEAR FINALISTS
Presented annually to the top minority head coach in division I college basketball.
BOSTON, MA — The 25 finalists for the 2023-24 Ben Jobe National Coach of the Year award have been announced. 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 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.
Coach Jobe passed away on March 10, 2017.
The recipient of the annual 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 2024 award will be announced in Phoenix, AZ, site of the men’s Division I Basketball Championship.
Courtesy of Denise Archetto
Assistant Athletic Director For Strategic Communications
UNC Greensboro