NEW HAVEN, Conn. – James Jones, Joel E Smilow '54 Head Coach of Men's Basketball has been named a finalist for the Hugh Durham award, Collegeinsider.com announced. The award is presented annually to the top mid-major head coach in college basketball.
Jones, a winner of the award in 2016, 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.
The Hugh Durham award is named in honor of the former Florida State, Georgia and Jacksonville head coach. In eight seasons, at Jacksonville University, Durham became the Dolphins' all-time winningest Division I coach (106 wins), making him the only coach in NCAA history to be the winningest coach (pct. or wins) at three different Division I schools.
He built national programs at Florida State where he holds the record for best winning percentage with a 230-95 (.708) record in 12 years. And at Georgia where he is also the all-time winningest coach in the 99-year history of the Bulldog program, having won 297 games in 17 seasons.
Durham coached Florida State and Georgia to a combined 8 NCAA Tournament appearances, and 2 Final Fours. He is one of 17 coaches to take multiple teams to the Final Four.
Coaches of teams in the following conferences are eligible for the award: America East, ASUN, Big Sky, Big South, Big West, Coastal Athletic, CUSA, Horizon, Independents, Ivy, Metro Atlantic, Mid-American, MEAC, Missouri Valley, Northeast, Ohio Valley, Patriot, Southern, Southland, SWAC, Summit, Sun Belt, WAC, West Coast.
The recipient of the 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.
