Rider's Baggett Finalist for National Award

Ben Jobe Award

BOSTON, MA -- The 16 finalists have been announced for the 2015 Ben Jobe Award and for the second time in three years Rider head coach Kevin Baggett is one of them.

Baggett, the 2015 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Coach of the Year, took a team that was picked to finish seventh in the MAAC and finished runner-up. Rider (21-11) won a program-best 15 MAAC games this year and tied the program record for wins in a regular season.

The Ben Jobe Award is presented annually to the top minority coach in Division I men's basketball.

The 2014-15 finalists include Tommy Amaker (Harvard),  Bobby Collins (UMES), Ed Cooley (Providence), Mike Davis (Texas Southern), Frank Haith (Tulsa), Ron Hunter (Georgia State), James Jones (Yale), Robert Jones (Norfolk State), 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) and Baggett.

Coach 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.

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.

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