Hugh Durham Award Release

BOSTON –  After leading the Northeastern men's basketball team to the 2019 CAA Championship Title and helping the Huskies return to the NCAA Tournament for the second time in his tenure, head coach Bill Coen has been honored as a finalist for the Hugh Durham Coach of the Year Award. 

The nomination is the second of Coen's career after earning the honor in 2013. 
 
In his 13^thseason at the helm of Northeastern, Coen led the Huskies to a 20-win season for the fifth time in his tenure and back-to-back 20-win seasons for the first time in his career and the first time in program history since the 1985-86, 86-87 seasons.
 
Northeastern currently boasts a 23-10 overall record and finished with a 14-4 record in conference play for the second-straight season heading into the NCAA Tournament.
 
Coen also guided the Huskies to a 6-6 non-conference record against one of the toughest non-conference slates in the nation, finishing with a non-conference NET ranking of 10. The Huskies faced seven opponents that took part in the 2018 NCAA Tournament, the most in the nation. 
 
Under Coen's tutelage, Vasa Pusica earned All-CAA First Team honors for the second-straight season while Jordan Roland was tabbed to the All-CAA Third Team. Pusica was also honored by the USBWA with All-District honors. 

The Hugh Durham Award is presented annually to the nation's top mid-major coach.  In eight seasons as the head coach at Jacksonville University, Durham became the Dolphins' all-time winningest Division I coach (106 wins), making him the only coach in NCAA history to be the winningest coach (pct. or wins) at three different Division I schools.

The recipient of the 2019 Hugh Durham award will be announced on April 5 at the College Insider Awards Event, in Minneapolis, site of the 2019 NCAA division I basketball championship.

2019 Hugh Durham Award Finalists
John Becker, Vermont
Randy Bennett, Saint Mary's
Rick Byrd, Belmont
Bill Coen, Northeastern
Tim Cluess, Iona
Darian DeVries, Drake
Steve Forbes, ETSU
Joe Golding, Abilene Christian
Jason Hooten, Sam Houston State
Mike Huger, Bowling Green
Chris Jans, New Mexico State
Robert Jones, Norfolk State
Danny Kaspar, Texas State
Dustin Kerns, Presbyterian
Ritchie McKay, Liberty
Matt McMahon, Murray State
Joe Mihalich, Hofstra
Wes Miller, UNC Greensboro
Nate Oats, Buffalo
Chris Ogden, UT Arlington
Mark Pope, Utah Valley
Bob Richey, Furman
Byron Smith, Prairie View A&M
Russell Turner, UC Irvine
Mike Young, Wofford