McMahon Named Finalist For Durham Award

Murray State head basketball coach Matt McMahon has been named as a finalist for the 2019 Hugh Durham Award presented by CollegeInsider.com. The announcement marks the second time in three days that McMahon has been named as a finalist for an award by the outlet after being named to the final 25 for the Skip Prosser Man of the Year award Wednesday.

The Hugh Durham Award is presented annually to the nation's top mid-major coach.  In eight seasons as the head coach 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.

McMahon and the Racers wrapped up their second-consecutive Ohio Valley Conference Tournament championship over the weekend at the Ford Center in Evansville, Indiana. The Racers are 27-4 and qualified for the program's 17th appearance in the NCAA Tournament. The Racers are waiting to hear their name called on Selection Sunday when the field of teams is announced.

Durham 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.

McMahon joins longtime Belmont head coach Rick Byrd, as the two OVC representatives on the list of this year's finalists. The Murray State head man is now a two-time finalist for the award, after making the final list last season as well. Other Murray State coaches to be named as a Durham finalist are Billy Kennedy in 2010 and Steve Prohm in both 2012 and 2015.

The recipient of the 2019 Hugh Durham Award will be announced on April 5 at the College Insider Awards Event, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, site of the 2019 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship.

2019 Hugh Durham Award Finalists
John Becker, Vermont
Randy Bennett, Saint Mary's
Rick Byrd, Belmont
Bill Coen, Northeastern
Tim Cluess, Iona
Darian DeVries, Drake
Steve Forbes, ETSU
Joe Golding, Abilene Christian
Jason Hooten, Sam Houston State
Mike Huger, Bowling Green
Chris Jans, New Mexico State
Robert Jones, Norfolk State
Danny Kaspar, Texas State
Dustin Kerns, Presbyterian
Ritchie McKay, Liberty
Matt McMahon, Murray State
Joe Mihalich, Hofstra
Wes Miller, UNC Greensboro
Nate Oats, Buffalo
Chris Ogden, UT Arlington
Mark Pope, Utah Valley
Bob Richey, Furman
Byron Smith, Prairie View A&M
Russell Turner, UC Irvine
Mike Young, Wofford