After leading Arkansas State men’s basketball to the postseason for the first time since 1999, first-year head coach Bryan Hodgson has been named one of 16 finalists for the Joe B. Hall National Coach of the Year Award, presented annually to the top rookie, first-year head coach in Division I.

Hodgson – the lone Sun Belt Conference coach on the list – is one of four Division-I head coaches this season to lead their team to the postseason in their first year as a head coach. En route to the Red Wolves’ (18-16) appearance in the Ro College Basketball Invitational on Saturday, Hodgson guided A-State to the championship game of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament for the first time since 2007 – one of five first-year head coaches to do so this season.

He is also the first coach to lead a team to the SBC final in his first season since 2019, and just the third since 2015. Under his watch, A-State reached its highest NET and KenPom rankings since the 2016-17 season, while shattering multiple offensive program records including offensive efficiency, scoring, field goals made and attempted and 3-pointers made and attempted.

The Red Wolves were picked to finish ninth in the Sun Belt in the annual preseason coaches poll, but weathered a tough non-conference slate and several injuries to finish fourth in the league standings – the program’s highest seed since 2014.

ABOUT THE JOE B. HALL AWARD

The Joe B. Hall Award is named in honor of longtime Kentucky head coach Joe B. Hall who was given the task of following the legendary Adolph Rupp at the school. In his first season, Hall finished 20-8, won the SEC and advanced to the NCAA Regional Finals.

Hall coached the Wildcats from 1972 to 1985. He won two-thirds of his games (297-100), received four SEC Coach of the Year honors, and won a National Championship in 1978. He also steered the program to two other Final Fours, won eight Southeastern Conference regular season championships and one Southeastern Conference tournament championship (1984). Coach Hall passed away on January 15, 2022.

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 2024 award will be announced in Phoenix, Ariz., site of the men’s Division I Basketball Championship.

NEXT UP

A-State takes on Bethune-Cookman in the first round of the Ro CBI at noon CT Saturday, March 23, inside the Ocean Center in Daytona Beach, Fla.