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| North Carolina Central’s Moton was named a Ben Jobe Award finalist on Monday. (IU Photo) |
North Carolina Central’s LeVelle Moton didn’t win MEAC Coach of The Year this season, but that doesn’t mean his work has gone unrecognized. CollegeInsider.com announced on Monday that Moton is a finalist for the Ben Jobe Award, given annually to the top minority coach in Division I. Other HBCU coaches up for the award are Norfolk State’s Anthony Evans, Texas Southern’s Mike Davis and Southern’s Roman Banks.
Moton led the Eagles to a 22-8 regular season, finishing in second place in the MEAC with a 15-1 record. A far cry from his first season when NCCU won just seven games during its transition from Division II.
The MEAC Coach of The Year honor went to Norfolk State’s Anthony Evans, who was also nominated for the Ben Jobe Award. A year after leading NSU to a major upset of Missouri, Evans led his Spartans to an undefeated MEAC record and a regular-season title. Pretty remarkable considering NSU lost four starters from the 2012 squad and was predicted to finish fourth in the MEAC.
Davis led Texas Southern to the SWAC regular season title his first year in Houston. The former Indiana coach led TSU to a 17-14 record, winning 16 of 18 conference contests. He shared SWAC Coach Of The Year honors with Banks.
Banks led Southern to a 21-9 record, including wins over South Dakota and Texas A&M. Southern was awarded the top seed in the SWAC tournament as Texas Southern is ineligible for post-season play.
The 2013 recipient will be announced at the CollegeInsider.com awards banquet in Atlanta, Ga., the site of the 2013 Men’s NCAA Basketball Championship.