NDSU’s head men’s basketball coach Saul Phillips is one of 10 finalists for the Hugh Durham Award. The award is given annually to the nation’s top mid-major coach, as voted by a 20-member panel. The winner will be announced at the 2009 Final Four in Detroit.
Other finalists are Duggar Baucom from the Virginia Military Institute, Randy Bennett from St. Mary’s College, Todd Bozeman from Morgan State University, Ed Conroy from The Citadel, Brad Greenberg from Radford University, former NDSU assistant coach Ben Jacobson from the University of Northern Iowa, J.P. Piper from Nicholls State University, Randy Rahe from Weber State University and Brad Stevens from Butler University.
Phillips has guided NDSU to a 23-6 record, the second most wins in school history. NDSU won the Summit League regular-season title with a 16-2 record. The Bison rank in the top 25 nationally in 3-point shooting percentage (2nd place), total field goal percentage (5th place), scoring offense (8th place), scoring margin (11th place), fewest turnovers per game (11th place), and assist-to-turnover ratio (13th place).
In 2005, the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Coach of the Year award was renamed in honor of Hugh Durham, who retired at the end of the 2004-05 season. Durham is one of just 12 coaches to have led two different programs to the NCAA Final Four (Florida State in 1972 and Georgia in 1983). He is the only coach to lead both teams to their only Final Four appearance.
The previous winners of the award are Keno Davis from Drake University in 2008, Gregg Marshall from Winthrop University in 2007, Pat Flannery from Bucknell University in 2006 and Bob Thomason from Pacific University in 2005.