Men's Basketball

MBB: Sam Houston’s Mudge, WKU’s Lutz, LA Tech’s Hester Named Finalists for National Coaching Awards

BOSTON – Three CUSA head coaches were named finalists for National Coach of the Year Awards, as announced Tuesday by CollegeInsider.com
 
Sam Houston head coach Chris Mudge was named a finalist for the 2023-24 Joe B. Hall and Hugh Durham Awards, while WKU head coach Steve Lutz was named one of 20 finalists for the Skip Prosser Man of the Year Award and LA Tech head coach Talvin Hester was named one of 25 finalists for the Ben Jobe Award.
 
The Joe B. Hall Award is presented annually to the top rookie, first-year head coach in division I college basketball, and the Hugh Durham Award is presented annually to the top mid-major head coach in college basketball.
 
The Skip Prosser Award honors those who not only achieve success on the basketball court, but who display moral integrity on and off it as well. The Ben Jobe Award is presented annually to the top minority head coach in Division I college basketball.
 
Mudge claimed CUSA’s Gene Bartow Coach of the Year honor after leading the Bearkats (21-12, 13-3 CUSA) to an outright conference title in their debut season in CUSA. Following the departure of three All-WAC selections, Mudge was tasked with melding seven newcomers into the fold.
 
A finalist for the Skip Prosser Award for a second-straight year, Lutz led the Hilltoppers (22-11, 8-8 CUSA) to their first CUSA Basketball Championship title. He also punched his third-consecutive ticket to the NCAA Tournament after two trips with Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
 
Hester guided the Bulldogs (22-10, 12-4 CUSA) to a seven-win improvement in his second year with the program. LA Tech tied for the second-most games holding opponents under 40 percent shooting (20) and ranked 16th in scoring defense (64.5).
 
The recipients of the annual awards are determined by a 10-member voting committee, which consists of current and former head coaches, as well as two senior staff members of CollegeInsider.com. The winners of the 2024 awards will be announced in Phoenix, the site of the men’s Final Four.