Ben Jacobson named finalist for Skip Prosser Man of the Year award

BOSTON, Mass. --- UNI head men's basketball coach Ben Jacobson has been named a finalist for the 2024-25 Skip Prosser Man of the Year award, as announced by CollegeInsider.com on Thursday morning.

The honor is presented annually to the Division I coach who wins with integrity on and off the court by recognizing those who not only achieve success on the basketball court but who display moral integrity on and off it as well.

The recipient of the annual award is determined by a ten-member voting committee, which consists of current and former head coaches, as well as two senior staff members of CollegeInsider.com. The 2025 award winner will be announced in San Antonio, Texas, site of the men's Division I Final Four and championship game.

The award is named after former Wake Forest head men's basketball coach Skip Prosser, who compiled a 291-146 career record, which also included stints at Xavier and Loyola (Maryland). At Wake Forest, Prosser's teams averaged 21 wins per season while playing in arguably the nation's most difficult league, the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). Prosser won 100 games at an ACC school quicker than all but two coaches in the 55-year history of the conference. He coached NBA stars Chris Paul and Josh Howard, led the Demon Deacons to the first No. 1 national ranking in school history and earned ACC Coach of the Year honors in 2003. Prosser died of an apparent heart attack on July 26, 2007 in his office at Wake Forest.

During the 2024-25 season, Jacobson, in his 19th season at Northern Iowa, has led the Panthers to a 20-11 regular season record and the three-seed in this year's Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) Tournament (commonly known as Arch Madness). UNI has recorded ten seasons with 20 or more wins under Jacobson and 15 total in program history. The Panthers have finished in the upper half of the MVC standings 14 times under his leadership, and have won a league record 208 games in conference play. Jacobson's 374 career wins also rank second in MVC history.

Other finalists for the award this year include Rick Barnes (Tennessee), Brian Barone (SIU Edwardsville), Chris Beard (Ole Miss), Brad Brownell (Clemson), Shane Burcar (Northern Arizona), Mark Byington (Vanderbilt), John Dunne (Marist), Steve Forbes (Wake Forest)

Jason Hooten (New Mexico State), Robert Jones (Norfolk State), Billy Lange (Saint Joseph's), Grant Leonard (Queens), Bart Lundy (Milwaukee), Niko Medved (Colorado State), Ryan Odom (VCU), Kelvin Sampson (Houston), Jon Scheyer (Duke), Patrick Sellers (Central Connecticut State), Duane Simpkins (American), Pat Skerry (Towson), Tony Skinn (George Mason), Shaka Smart (Marquette), Billy Taylor (Elon) and Stan Waterman (Delaware State).

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UNI men's basketball action can be followed all season long on social media on Facebook (UNI Men's Basketball), X (@UNImbb) and on Instagram (@uni_basketball). The full 2024-25 schedule and roster, along with the latest Panther news and information can be found online at UNIpanthers.com.

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