Missouri Valley
Phelan Award Finalists – DeVries & Others
Editor: The following is part of a press release from JimPhelanAward.com.
(Boston, MA) – The finalists for the 2022-23 Jim Phelan National Coach of the Year award were announced on Tuesday.
Drake’s Darian DeVries is one of twenty finalists. Others on the list include former Southern Illinois and current Purdue coach Matt Painter and former Murray State and current UCLA coach Mick Cronin. Former Murray State assistants Amir-Abdur Rahim of Kennesaw State and Dusty May of Florida Atlantic are also finalists.
The Jim Phelan Award, which is presented annually to the nation’s top Division I coach, is named in honor of a legendary bow-tied coach who spent 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 had amassed 830 wins (overall record of 830-524) in all divisions. In those 49 years, 19 of his teams amassed 20 or more wins in a season.