Georgia State head coach Ron Hunter, who led the Panthers to another 20-win season and postseason appearance, has been named a finalist for the Ben Jobe Award, given annually to one of the top coaches in college basketball.
The Ben Jobe Award is presented annually to the top minority coach in NCAA Division I men’s basketball. Coach Jobe 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.
The 2016-17 finalists include: Tommy Amaker (Harvard), Mike Anderson (Arkansas), Rod Barnes (CSU Bakersfield), Jamion Christian (Mount St. Mary’s), Mike Davis (Texas Southern), Johnny Dawkins (UCF), Earl Grant (Charleston), Leonard Hamilton (Florida State), Ron Hunter (Georgia State), James Jones (Yale), Robert Jones (Norfolk State), Kevin Keatts (UNC Wilmington), Danny Manning (Wake Forest), Ritchie McKay (Liberty), LeVelle Moton (North Carolina Central), King Rice (Monmouth), Montez Robinson (Alcorn State), Kelvin Sampson (Houston), Anthony Stewart (UT Martin), Dedrique Taylor (Cal State Fullerton) and Willis Wilson (Texas A&M-Corpus Christi).
Hunter became Georgia State’s all-time winningest coach this past season, despite leading the Panthers for only six years. The Panthers finished runner-up in the Sun Belt Conference regular season and advanced to the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament. Hunter is now responsible for four of the six most successfully seasons in program history.
Hunter is a three-time conference coach of the year and has seen a pair of his student-athletes go on to play in the NBA.
The recipient of the 2017 Jobe award will be announced in Phoenix, AZ site of the men’s NCAA Division I Basketball Championship.