FAIRFAX, Va. – George Mason University men's basketball head coach Tony Skinn ('06) has been named a national finalist for the Ben Jobe Award.
 
Presented by CollegeInsider.com, the award recognizes the top minority head coach in Division I college basketball. The 2025 award will be announced in San Antonio, Texas, site of the men's Division I Basketball Championship.

For a full list of finalists, click here. 
 
Skinn is the fastest George Mason coach to 40 wins in school history and his A-10 winning percentage (.647) is by far the best in the program's 12 years in the league. His overall winning percentage (.689) is the best of any George Mason coach over their first two seasons in Fairfax.
 
This season, he has led the Patriots to the best season in the program's A-10 history. The Green & Gold have set a new school record for Atlantic 10 league victories (13) and started league play 12-1 for the first time in the program's 59-year history. The Patriots have reached 22 regular season victories for the first time since 2011-12 and have locked up a double bye in the A-10 Championship for the first time in school history.
 
George Mason's 16 home wins are a school record. The Patriots also have started A-10 play 8-0 at home for the first time ever and won five-straight A-10 road games for the first time in program annals. The team's 11-game win streak from Jan. 8-Feb. 18 was the second longest in the nation at the time and was just the fourth 10+ game winning streak in school history.
 
The Patriots have excelled in close games under Skinn's leadership. The Green & Gold are 6-0 in their last five contests decided by five points or less and 3-0 in their last three overtime games.
 
What's more, the Patriots' elite defense is ranked 21^st nationally and the program is in the top-10 in field goal percentage defense and 2pt defense. The team's cumulative FG defense and 3pt FG defense numbers are currently tracking as George Mason school records.
 
The Patriots' have posted 20+ wins in each of Skinn's first two seasons at the helm of the program. He was a finalist last season for the Joe B. Hall Award, given annually to the best first-year head coach in the nation.
 
When combining his years as a student-athlete (3) and as a head coach (2), Skinn has totaled a 108-50 (.684) record over his five seasons in Fairfax.
 
About The Ben Jobe Award
The Ben Jobe Award is named in honor of one of the most iconic coaches in the history of basketball at Historically Black Colleges and Universities. He is best known as the head coach of Southern University, a position he held for 12 seasons. He was also head coach at Alabama
A&M, Alabama State, Talladega, Tuskegee, and South Carolina State.

His record at Southern was 209-141 and included four NCAA Tournament appearances. He also coached the Jaguars to one NIT appearance, five SIAC championships, 11 SWAC titles and two NAIA Tournament Championships. Perhaps his most memorable moment as a coach was leading No. 15 seed Southern to a 93-78 win over No. 2 Georgia Tech in the first round of the 1993 NCAA Tournament. It stands as one of the great upsets in the history of the event.

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.