Ben Jobe Award Release
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), 12
th 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 |
