HOUSTON, TX – Monmouth basketball head coach King Rice has been named a finalist for the Ben Jobe Award for the second consecutive year. Rice, the MAAC, ECAC and NABC District I Coach of the Year, led MU to a program record 28 wins and an outright regular season title in 2015-16.
Rice earns a spot as a finalist after leading Monmouth to a program-record 28 victories this season. He has already notched three Coach of the Year accolades after earning MAAC, NABC District I and ECAC Coach of the Year. Rice posted 17 league victories, including an 11-2 mark at home and a nation-leading 13 road tallies. He secured Monmouth's first regular season title in 11 years and the top seed in the conference tournament while knocking off five high-major programs in the non-conference.
He coached three All-MAAC performers, including Player of the Year and AP Honorable Mention All-American Justin Robinson, MAAC Rookie of the Year and all-conference third team member Micah Seaborn and third-teamer Deon Jones.
The Ben Jobe Award is presented annually to the top minority coach in Division I men's basketball. An icon in the history of basketball at Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Jobe is best known as the head coach of the Southern University, a position he held for 12 seasons. Rice is one of 21 coaches nationally to earn a spot as a finalist.
