BOSTON — Long Island University Men's Basketball Head Coach Rod Strickland was named a finalist for the Ben Jobe Award, presented annually by collegeinsider.com to the top minority head coach in Division I college basketball.  

Strickland, now in his fourth season at the helm of the LIU men's basketball program, received NEC Coach of the Year honors on Tuesday, becoming the third head coach in program history to receive the honor. The Sharks posted a 21-10 overall record in the regular season, winning the NEC regular season title with a 15-3 mark in conference play.  

This is the seventh NEC regular season championship for LIU in program history, and the first for the program since the 2011-12 season. 

The annual award recipient is determined by a 10-member voting committee, comprised of current and former head coaches and two senior staff members of collegeinsider.com. 

The award is named after Ben Jobe, a longtime coach at several Historically Black Colleges and Universities, including Southern University, Alabama A&M University, Talladega College, Tuskegee University, and South Carolina State University. Jobe posted a career record of 209-141 at Southern, making four appearances at the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament. Jobe passed away on March 10, 2017. 

BEN JOBE AWARD FINALISTS 

Kenny Blakeney (Howard) 

Speedy Claxton (Hofstra) 

Hubert Davis (North Carolina) 

Johnny Dawkins (UCF) 

Kahil Fennell (UTRGV) 

Dennis Gates (Missouri) 

Corey Gipson (Austin Peay) 

Justin Gray (Coastal Carolina) 

Cornelius Jackson (Marshall) 

Terrence Johnson (Texas State) 

James Jones (Yale) 

Jai Lucas (Miami) 

Bashir Mason (Saint Peter's) 

Jonathan Mattox (Morehead State) 

Ritchie McKay (Liberty) 

Antoine Pettway (Kennesaw State) 

Roger Powell (Valparaiso) 

Richie Riley (South Alabama) 

Kelvin Sampson (Houston) 

Takayo Siddle (UNCW) 

Tony Skinn (George Mason) 

Nolan Smith (Tennessee State) 

Rod Strickland (LIU) 

Reggie Theus (Bethune-Cookman) 

Charlie Ward (Florida A&M)