Mason Post-Game LIU Brooklyn Interview
Boston, MA - Fresh off a Northeast Conference (NEC) Tournament quarterfinal victory, Wagner head coach
Bashir Mason has been named as a finalist for the 2013 Joe B. Hall Award, which is presented annually to the top first-year coach in Division I college basketball as announced on Thursday.
Mason along with Kevin Baggett (Rider), Jamion Christian (Mount St. Mary's), Mike Martin (Brown), Dan Muller (Illinois State), Kevin Ollie (Connecticut), Jack Perri (LIU-Brooklyn), Richard Pitino (FIU), Nick Robinson (Southern Utah) and Travis Williams (Tennessee State) comprise the 10 finalists.
This season, Mason has set a school record for overall (19) and conference (12) wins for a first-year coach on Grymes Hill and is the youngest head coach in America at 29 years and 24 days.
The award is named in the honor of Joe B. Hall who was given the task of following the legendary Adolph Rupp. In his first season at the University of Kentucky, Hall finished 20-8, won the SEC and advanced to the NCAA Regional Finals.
From 1972 to 1985 Hall would win two-thirds of his games (297-100), receive four SEC Coach of the Year honors and win a National Championship (1978). Along with the 1978 title, Hall also guided Kentucky to a runner-up finish to UCLA in the 1975 NCAA tournament, a Final Four appearance in the 1984 NCAA Tournament and an NIT championship in 1976. He won eight SEC regular season championships and one SEC tournament championship (1984).
Hall is one of only three men to win an NCAA championship as a player (1949- Kentucky) and coach (1978- Kentucky). The only others to achieve this feat are Bob Knight and Dean Smith.
The 2013 recipient will be announced on April 5 at the
CollegeInsider.com awards banquet in Atlanta, site of the men's NCAA Basketball Championship.
Follow Wagner Athletics on Twitter (@wagnerathletics) for all the latest news and updates on the athletic department, @WagnerHoops for news and updates on the men's basketball program and @bashirmason to follow the Seahawks' first-year head coach.
Photography by Dave Saffran
