NORFOLK, Va. – Norfolk State men's basketball head coach Robert Jones was named a finalist on Friday for the Ben Jobe Award, presented annually to the top minority head coach in Division I basketball.
 
He is one of 16 coaches across the more than 340 D-I schools to earn the distinction of being a finalist for the award. In his second year leading the Spartan program, Jones has guided the Spartans into Friday night's MEAC tournament semifinals for the second straight year. NSU currently owns a 20-12 overall record this year after also going 12-4 in MEAC play and finishing as the runner-up in the regular season standings.
 
It marks NSU's third 20-win season since moving to Division I in 1997.
 
The other finalists include Tommy Amaker (Harvard), Kevin Baggett (Rider), Bobby Collins (UMES), Ed Cooley (Providence), Mike Davis (Texas Southern), Frank Haith (Tulsa), Ron Hunter (Georgia State), James Jones  (Yale), Kevin Keatts (UNC Wilmington), Marvin Menzies (New Mexico State), LeVelle Moton (North Carolina Central), King Rice (Monmouth), John Thompson III (Georgetown), Gary Waters (Cleveland State), Willis Wilson (Texas A&M Corpus Christi).
 
Jones is one of three MEAC coaches to be nominated along with Collins and Moton.
 
The award is named after Ben Jobe, who held head coaching jobs at HBCU's Southern, Alabama A&M, Alabama State, Talladega, Tuskegee and South Carolina State. Jobe led Southern to four NCAA tournament appearances, including a first-round upset of Georgia Tech in 1993.
 
The recipient of the 2015 award will be announced at the CollegeInsider.com Awards Banquet on April 3 in Indianapolis, site of the 2015 men's division I basketball championship.