NORFOLK, Va. (NSUSpartans.com) – College Insider, Inc. has announced their award winners for the 2022 season and Norfolk State head coach Robert Jones has been named the Hugh Durham Award winner. 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.
The basketball website also named Jones a finalist for the Skip Prosser Man of the Year Award, Jim Phelan Award and Ben Jobe Award.
This is the second Coach of the Year award for Jones as BOXTOROW named him the HBCU Division I Coach of the Year recently.
Additionally, Jones was named as the head coach of Team John McLendon in the Inaugural HBCU All-Star Game, which takes place on Sunday, April 3 during Final Four weekend in New Orleans at the UNO Lakefront Arena.
Jones led the Spartans one of the most successful seasons in the programs Division I history. He led the team during the 2021-22 season to its best 22 game start in Division I (17-5), back-to-back MEAC Tournament titles, and an undefeated home record (11-0).
NSU claimed the regular season MEAC title after finishing with a 12-2 record in the conference, securing the top seed in the MEAC Tournament. In the tournament, the Spartans picked up wins over Delaware State (74-66), Morgan State (72-63), and Coppin State (72-57) to claim the MEAC Championship.
The Spartans finished the year with a 24-7 record, falling to No. 4 Baylor in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in Fort Worth, Texas.
