Murray State head men's basketball coach Steve Prohm led the Racers to a record-breaking 2011-12 season and now he's being considered for national awards.
 
This week, the rookie Racer coach was named to the candidates list for the Hugh Durham and Jim Phelan National Coach of the Year awards sponsored by CollegeInsider.com
 
Prohm's Racers were 31-2 this season, a mark that tied the school record for wins on their way to the Ohio Valley Conference regular season and tournament titles and a trip to the NCAA Tournament. The Racers were the final undefeated team at 23-0 and were the only team in NCAA D-I that was undefeated in road games at 13-0.
 
The Racers won a game in the NCAA's for the second time in three seasons when they knocked off Colorado State 58-41 (March 15) in Louisville, Ky., and they just missed going to the Sweet 16 in a hard-fought defeat to Marquette 62-53 (March 17).
 
Prohm was the eighth straight MSU coach to win the OVC regular season title and he was the fifth rookie coach to do it.  He was the third MSU rookie to be named OVC Coach of the Year.
 
His 31-2 record goes into the NCAA history book tied with Jamie Dixon (Pittsburgh) in 2003-04 for third place on the all-time list for rookie single season wins. The only other coaches to have more wins are: Bill Guthridge (North Carolina) 1997-98 and Bill Hodges (Indiana State) 1978-79. Prohm's winning percentage of .939 is the sixth best of all time among rookie coaches.

Murray State head men's basketball coach Steve Prohm led the Racers to a record-breaking 2011-12 season and now he's being considered for national awards.
 
This week, the rookie Racer coach was named to the candidates list for the Hugh Durham and Jim Phelan National Coach of the Year awards sponsored by CollegeInsider.com
 
Prohm's Racers were 31-2 this season, a mark that tied the school record for wins on their way to the Ohio Valley Conference regular season and tournament titles and a trip to the NCAA Tournament. The Racers were the final undefeated team at 23-0 and were the only team in NCAA D-I that was undefeated in road games at 13-0.
 
The Racers won a game in the NCAA's for the second time in three seasons when they knocked off Colorado State 58-41 (March 15) in Louisville, Ky., and they just missed going to the Sweet 16 in a hard-fought defeat to Marquette 62-52 (March 17).
 
Prohm was the eighth straight MSU coach to win the OVC regular season title and he was the fifth rookie coach to do it.  He was the third MSU rookie to be named OVC Coach of the Year.
 
His 31-2 record goes into the NCAA history book tied with Jamie Dixon (Pittsburgh) in 2003-04 for third place on the all-time list for rookie single season wins. The only other coaches to have more wins are: Bill Guthridge (North Carolina) 1997-98 and Bill Hodges (Indiana State) 1978-79. Prohm's winning percentage of .939 is the sixth best of all time among rookie coaches.

The Hugh Durham Award is given annually to the nation's top mid-major coach. In 2005 the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Coach of the Year award was renamed in honor of Hugh Durham, the coaching legend who had retired at the end of the 2004-05 season. Durham is one of just twelve coaches to have led two different programs to the NCAA Final Four (Florida State in 1972 and Georgia in 1983). He is the only coach among that group to have led both schools to their lone Final Four appearance.

The award is named after Jim Phelan who coached his entire career at Mount Saint Mary's University. He led the Mountaineers to the 1962 NCAA Men's Division II Basketball Championship. When he retired in 2003, after coaching for 49 years, he amassed 830 wins (overall record of 830-524) in over 1,300 games in all divisions. In those 49 years, 19 of his teams amassed 20 or more wins in a season.

The winners of these and other awards will be announced at the CollegeInsider.com awards banquet on March 30 in New Orleans, site of the men's NCAA Basketball Championship.

2012 HUGH DURHAM AWARD FINALISTS
Tommy Amaker- Harvard
Rod Barnes- Cal State Bakersfield
Randy Bennett- Saint Mary's
Horace Broadnax- Savannah State
Tim Clues- Iona
John Cooper- Tennessee State
Scott Cross- UT-Arlington
Kermit Davis- Middle Tennessee State
Bryce Drew- Valparaiso
Bruiser Flint- Drexel
Gregg Marshall- Wichita State
Steve Masiello- Manhattan
Greg McDermott- Creighton
Dan Monson- Long Beach State
Scott Nagy- South Dakota State
Eddie Payne- USC Upstate
Steve Prohm- Murray State
Joe Scott- Denver
Shaka Smart- VCU
Scott Sutton- Oral Roberts
Sean Woods- Mississippi Valley State

2012 JIM PHELAN AWARD FINALISTS
Tony Bennett- Virginia
Mike Brey- Notre Dame
Horace Broadnax- Savannah State
John Calipari- Kentucky
John Cooper- Tennessee State
Tom Crean- Indiana
Steve Fisher- San Diego State
Frank Haith- Missouri
Leonard Hamilton- Florida State
Stan Heath- South Florida
Fred Hoiberg- Iowa State
Tom Izzo- Michigan State
Eddie Payne- USC Upstate
Steve Prohm- Murray State
Bill Self- Kansas
John Thompson III- Georgetown
 

From: MSU media relations

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