Courtesy: Norfolk State
NEW ORLEANS, LA — Norfolk State coach Robert Jones is the 2022 recipient of the Hugh Durham Award, presented annually to the top Division I mid-major college basketball coach.
Jones, 42, led Norfolk State to its second consecutive MEAC tournament championship and NCAA tournament appearance. The Spartans were 24-7 overall and claimed the MEAC regular season title with a 12-2 record. NSU began the 2021-22 with a 9-1 record, which is the best start in Division I MEAC history, through the first ten games of the season.
Norfolk State won at least 11 conference games for the eighth time in nine seasons under Jones, who has a 166-126 career record.
The Hugh Durham award, is presented annually to the top Division I mid-major coach in college basketball, is named after a coach who built winning programs at three different universities.
In eight seasons as the head coach at Jacksonville University, Durham became the Dolphins’ all-time winningest Division I coach (106 wins), making him the only coach in NCAA history to be the winningest coach (pct. or wins) at three different Division I schools.
He built national programs at Florida State where he holds the record for best winning percentage with a 230-95 (.708) record in 12 years. And at Georgia where he is also the all-time winningest coach in the 99-year history of the Bulldog program, having won 297 games in 17 seasons.
Coaches of teams in the following conferences are eligible for the award: America East, Atlantic Sun, Big Sky, Big South, Big West, Colonial, Horizon, Ivy, Metro Atlantic, Mid-American, Mid-Eastern, Missouri Valley, Northeast, Ohio Valley, Patriot, Southern, Southland, Southwestern, Summit, Sun Belt, West Coast.
2021-22 HUGH DURHAM AWARD FINALISTS
| Griff Aldrich | Longwood |
| John Becker | Vermont |
| Randy Bennett | Saint Mary’s |
| Scott Davenport | Bellarmine |
| Todd Golden | San Francisco |
| Jared Grasso | Bryant |
| Eric Henderson | South Dakota State |
| Shaheen Holloway | Saint Peter’s |
| Ben Jacobson | Northern Iowa |
| ROBERT JONES | NORFOLK STATE |
| Matt Langel | Colgate |
| Bashir Mason | Wagner |
| Matt McMahon | Murray State |
| Bucky McMillan | Samford |
| Lamont Paris | Chattanooga |
| Rick Pitino | Iona |
| Todd Simon | Southern Utah |
| Pat Skerry | Towson |
| Danny Sprinkle | Montana State |
| Chris Victor | Seattle |