MIAMI (March 15, 2019) – FIU men's basketball Head Coach
Jeremy Ballard has been named a finalist for the 2019 Ben Jobe Coach of the Year Award. The announcement, made by Collegeinsider.com, came one day after the Panthers' first year coach was named a finalist for the Joe B. Hall National Coach of the Year Award.
Ballard has guided FIU to its first winning season – 19-13 overall and 10-8 in Conference USA play – since 2012-13 (18-14) and only its second winning campaign since 1999-00 (16-14). Since going to Division I to start the 1986-87 campaign, and including this season, the Panthers have recorded just six seasons with an overall record of .500-or-better. FIU's 19 wins are the third-most since moving to Division I, while it's 10 C-USA victories are the fourth-most league wins in program history.
ABOUT THE BEN JOBE AWARD
The Ben Jobe Award is presented annually to the top minority coach in Division I men's basketball. An icon in the history of basketball at Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Jobe is best known as the head coach of the Southern University, a position he held for 12 seasons.
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 Southern's 93-78 win over 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.
The recipient of the 2019 Ben Jobe award will be announced on April 5 at the College Insider Awards Event, in Minneapolis, site of the 2019 NCAA division I basketball championship.
2019 BEN JOBE AWARD FINALISTS
Tommy Amaker, Harvard
Jeremy Ballard, FIU
Johnny Dawkins, UCF
Travis DeCuire, Montana
Patrick Ewing, Georgetown
Jason Gardner, IUPUI
Earl Grant, Charleston
Leonard Hamilton, Florida State
Penny Hardaway, Memphis
Lew Hill, UT Rio Grande Valley
Michael Huger, Bowling Green
Ron Hunter, Georgia State
Justin Hutson, Fresno State
Donte' Jackson, Grambling
James Jones, Yale
Johnny Jones, Texas Southern
Mike Jones, Radford
Robert Jones, Norfolk State
Jay Joyner, North Carolina A&T
Dave Leitao, DePaul
Ritchie McKay, Liberty
Robert McCullum, Florida A&M
Richie Riley, South Alabama
Kelvin Sampson, Houston
Byron Smith, Prairie View A&M
SOCIAL MEDIA
Fans are encouraged to follow @FIUHoops on Twitter, and "Like" FIU men's basketball on Facebook (www.Facebook.com/FIUMensBBall) for the latest Panther basketball news. Follow all of FIU's 18 athletic teams on Google+ (FIU Athletics), Twitter (@FIUAthletics), Facebook (Facebook.com/FIUSports), YouTube (FIUPanthers), and Instagram (FIUathletics).
