Jacobson received 26 of a possible 47 first-place tallies and 115 total points to outdistance all other vote-getters. Voting was conducted by league coaches, media and sports information directors. Wichita State’s Gregg Marshall finished runnerup in the voting after earning the award for the past three seasons.
Jacobson guided the Panthers to a 27-3 mark, a school-record 16-game winning streak and a top-10 national ranking this season. It is the sixth 20-win season for Jacobson, who also became UNI’s all-time winningest coach in the season-opener against North Dakota. This year marks the 12th straight season that UNI has won nine or more league games and finished in the upper half of the MVC standings. It is the fourth straight season that UNI has finished in the top three of the final league standings.
Jacobson is tied with Henry P. Iba (Oklahoma A&M), Ken Hayes (Tulsa, New Mexico State) and Gregg Marshall (Wichita State) for the second-most MVC Coach of the Year Award honors. Only Maury John (Drake) has won more MVC Coach of the Year laurels with four.
The Mayville, N.D., native was also MVC Coach of the Year in 2009 and 2010 when he led UNI to the NCAA Tournament in both seasons.
UNI’s MVC Coach of the Year Selections
Eldon Miller – 1997
Ben Jacobson – 2009, 2010, 2015
