NEW HAVEN, Conn. - James Jones, Joel E Smilow '54 Head Coach of Men's Basketball has been named a finalist for the Skip Prosser Man of the Year Award, Collegeinsider.com announced.
 
The award is presented annually to the Division I coach who wins with integrity on and off the court.
 
The Skip Prosser Man of the Year Award honors those who not only achieve success on the basketball court but also display moral integrity on and off it as well.
 
Jones, Yale's all-time winningest men's basketball coach, has amassed 440 career victories, including 235 Ivy League wins—second most in conference history. This season, he has guided the Bulldogs to a 22–5 overall record and a 10–3 mark in Ivy League play, securing their second consecutive Ivy League title and the program's eighth under his leadership. Additionally, the Bulldogs have recorded at least 10 Ivy League wins in 11 seasons and have finished fourth or better in the conference for an impressive 25 consecutive years.
 
Skip Prosser, who was the Head Coach at Wake Forest, posted a 126-68 record with the Deacons. His teams averaged 21 wins per season while playing in arguably the nation's most difficult league, the Atlantic Coast Conference. Prosser won 100 games at an ACC school quicker than all but two coaches in the 55-year history of the conference. He coached NBA stars Chris Paul and Josh Howard, led the Demon Deacons to the first No. 1 national ranking in school history and earned ACC Coach of the Year honors in 2003.
 
Prosser passed away of an apparent heart attack on July 26, 2007, in his office at Wake Forest. He had just returned from his morning jog.
 
The recipient of the annual award is 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 2026 award will be announced in Indianapolis, IN, the site of the men's Division I Basketball Championship.