Fairfield men’s basketball coach Ed Cooley has been named as one of the 15 finalists for the Ben Jobe Award, presented to the top minority coach in Division I.
Here’s the release sent out by the university:
FAIRFIELD, Conn. — Ed Cooley, head coach of the Fairfield University
men’s basketball team, was named one of 15 finalists for the inaugural
Ben Jobe Award as presented by CollegeInsider.com. The award will be
presented annually to the top minority coach in Division I college
basketball.
This is the first year that the award will be given, as a 30-member
selection committee will vote this month. The winner of the inaugural
award will be announced at the Final Four in Indianapolis.
Cooley led the Stags to only their fifth 20-win season in school
history, and the most wins in over 30 years. Fairfield currently owns a
22-10 overall record as it awaits for a possible post-season berth.
Fairfield advanced to the 2010 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC)
championship game.
Cooley is averaging 16.5 wins per season over his four seasons at the
helm, which is the best per season average in school basketball history.
His 66 career wins are the most by a Fairfield coach over the first four
years of his career, surpassing George Bisacca’s 65 victories (1959-62).
Cooley currently owns a 66-60 overall record at Fairfield.
Under his guidance this year, freshman Derek Needham earned the MAAC
Rookie of the Year, Anthony Johnson secured the MAAC Defensive Player of
the Year, and Mike Evanovich collected the MAAC Sixth Man of the Year.
Needham and Johnson were also named to the All-MAAC team. Sean Grzeck
and Ryan Olander were also honored as part of the MAAC All-Academic
team.
The award is named for coaching legend Ben Jobe, who won 524 games in 31
years. He is best known for his accomplishments at Southern University,
where he took the program to four NCAA tournament appearances and one
NIT berth.
The other 14 finalists include Tommy Amaker (Harvard), Mike Anderson
(Missouri), Tevester Anderson (Jackson State), Tony Barbee (UTEP), Todd
Bozeman (Morgan State), Mike Davis (UAB), Stan Heath (South Florida),
Ron Humber (IUPUI), Sydney Johnson (Princeton), Johnny Jones (North
Texas), Marvin Menzies (New Mexico State), Shaka Smart (VCU), John
Thompson III (Georgetown), and Cliff Warren (Jacksonville).
