MOREHEAD, Ky. -- Morehead State Head Men's Basketball Coach
Jonathan Mattox is on the finalist list for the CollegeInsider.com Ben Jobe Award. The award honors the nation's top minority head coach in Division I.
The Ben Jobe Award is named in honor of one of the most iconic coaches in the history of basketball at Historically Black Colleges and Universities. He is best known as the head coach of Southern University, a position he held for 12 seasons. He was also head coach at Alabama A&M, Alabama State, Talladega, Tuskegee, and South Carolina State.
In his second season leading Morehead State, Mattox and his staff led the Eagles to an Ohio Valley Conference regular-season co-championship and a 19-12 record. The Eagles' 15-5 OVC record marked the second highest league win total in program history.
Mattox is also the first head coach in program history to lead his team to an OVC title in his first two seasons.
After nine years on the Morehead State staff, he was at Murray State as an assistant coach for the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons before coming back to lead the Eagles in 2024-25. Mattox began his career at MSU in 2013-14 as a graduate manager and eventually earned his way up to associate head coach for the 2021-22 season.
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 Long Island
Reggie Theus Bethune-Cookman
Charlie Ward Florida A&M
