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April 2,
2010
Ed Cooley recipient of 2010 Ben Jobe National Coach
of the Year Award
 INDIANAPOLIS
(IN) -- A great coach can lead a team to success
under adverse conditions, and that's just what
Fairfield's Ed Cooley did this season. His Stags
overcame several injuries to win 23 games, which was
one off the school record. For his accomplishments
he is this year's recipient of the inaugural Ben
Jobe Award, which will be presented annually to the
top minority coach in Division I college basketball.
The highlight of the season for Fairfield was a
27-point second half comeback against George Mason
in the first round of the CollegeInsider.com
Tournament. The 101-96 win in overtime was the
greatest second half comeback in the history of
postseason basketball. That followed an overtime
loss to Siena on the Saints' home court in the final
of the MAAC tournament.
Fairfield's three postseason wins this year are the
most for the school since the 1996-97 season, a
campaign that was punctuated with an NCAA Tournament
appearance. Cooley has guided Fairfield to 40 wins
over the past two seasons, which represents the
highest two-year total for the program in 21 years.
The other finalists for the award were 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 Hunter (IUPUI), Sydney Johnson
(Princeton), Johnny Jones (North Texas), Marvin
Menzies (New Mexico State), Shaka Smart (VCU), John
Thompson III (Georgetown) and Cliff Warren
(Jacksonville).
Ben Jobe is an icon in the history of basketball at
Historically Black Colleges and Universities. He is
best known as the head coach of the Southern
University, a position he held for 12 seasons. He
has also head coach at Alabama A&M, Alabama State,
Talladega, Tuskegee and South Carolina State.
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.
BEN JOBE AWARD SELECTION COMMITTEE
|
Tony Bennett |
University of Virginia |
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Alvin Brooks |
CollegeInsider.com |
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William Brown |
Talladega College |
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Tim Carter |
South Carolina State University |
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Mickey Clayton |
Florida A&M University |
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Bobby Cremins |
College of Charleston |
|
Tommy Dempsey |
Rider University |
|
Joe Dwyer |
CollegeInsider.com |
|
Thad Fitzpatrick |
Brookwood High School |
|
Paul Hewitt |
Georgia Tech |
|
Arthur Hightower |
San Diego Chargers |
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Ben Jobe |
New York Knicks |
|
Avery Johnson |
ESPN |
|
Claude Johnson |
BlackFives.com |
|
Leon Kerry |
Central Intercollegiate Athletic Conference |
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Floyd Keith |
Black Coaches Association |
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Mike LaPlante |
ESPN |
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Jim Larranaga |
George Mason University |
|
Angela Lento |
CollegeInsider.com |
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Ron "Fang" Mitchell |
Coppin State University |
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Scott Monarch |
Marquette University |
|
Vann Pettaway |
Alabama A&M University |
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Jeff Ruland |
University of the District of Columbia |
|
Tubby Smith |
University of Minnesota |
|
Rob Spivery |
Southern University |
|
John Stansberry |
CollegeInsider.com |
|
Donnie Waslsh |
New York Knicks |
|
Mike Wilson |
Washington Wizards |
|
Willis Wilson |
University of Memphis |
|
Steve Yoder |
New York Knicks |
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