BOSTON – New Mexico State head men's basketball coach was named a finalist for the Hugh Durham Award Friday afternoon. The award is presented annually to the nation's top mid-major coach.
 
The reigning back-to-back Western Athletic Conference Coach of the Year has had great success since taking over the well-storied Aggie basketball program. Since he hit the ground running, Jans has gone 55-10 overall while posting a 27-3 mark in conference action at NM State.
 
So far in 2018-19, Jans has led New Mexico State a 28-4 overall record – including a 17-game win streak after the team's quarterfinal win in the conference tournament against Chicago State. With a win on Friday, March 15, in the WAC Tournament semifinal, this year's squad led by Jans can break the program record for most wins a single-season – which he tied in his first season at the helm.
 
Jans is no stranger to national awards, he was chosen by his peers as the National Association of Basketball Coaches' top first-year head coach and was presented with the 2015 Joe B. Hall National Coach of the Year award.
 
The recipient of the 2019 Hugh Durham award will be announced on April 5 at the College Insider Awards Event, in Minneapolis, site of the 2019 NCAA Division I basketball championship. For more information, please visit www.hughdurhamaward.com.
 
ABOUT HUGH DURHMAN
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 (percentage 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.