Full Release
Staten Island, NY – Wagner head men's basketball coach
Bashir Mason has been selected as a finalist for the 2022 Hugh Durham National Coach of the Year Award, which is presented annually to the top Division I mid-major coach in college basketball by collegeinsider.com.
This marks the third time in his ten seasons at the helm of the Seahawks' men's basketball program that Mason has been a finalist for the award after being a finalist following the 2017-18 and 2020-21 seasons.
Mason is one of two Northeast Conference (NEC) coaches to be selected as a finalist for the award, joining Bryant's Jared Grasso.
Most recently, Mason was named the District 15 Coach of the Year by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC).
Mason led the Seahawks to a 21-6 overall record and an appearance in the NEC title game. This marks the third time under Mason and ninth time in program history that Wagner has won 20 or more games in one season.
Wagner's 15 conference wins matched the most in program history. The Seahawks went 15-5 in 2001-02, along with 15-3 in 2007-08 and 2011-12.
Earlier this season, Wagner's 14 consecutive wins set the record for the longest winning streak for a Seahawk team under Mason and was the longest winning streak for a Wagner squad since winning 16 straight during the 1978-79 season under P.J. Carlesimo.
Wagner's 13-0 start in NEC play fell two short of the NEC standard set by UMBC, which won 15 in a row in 1998-99 before dropping two of its last three games to settle for a 17-3 record.
The last conference school to rattle off 13 straight NEC wins was LIU. The Sharks won 13 in a row in 2010-11, a stretch that included three NEC Tournament wins.
Wagner's win over Fairleigh Dickinson marked the 100th career victory in conference play for Mason, who became the 11th coach in NEC history to reach the century mark.
Earlier this season, Mason earned his 150th overall victory against Fairfield. Mason is already Wagner's winningest coach in the Division I era and reached the milestone in 276 games, winning more than 54% of his games.
Mason was named to the Athletic's "40 Under 40 – Rising Stars In Men's College Basketball" list.
According to the article, which features Mason at #15, Mason "has established himself as one of the top mid-major coaches in America."
Last season, Mason entered elite territory, becoming just the second coach in the conference's 40-year history to win three Jim Phelan Coach of the Year honors, joining NEC Hall of Fame coach Howie Dickenman, who earned the distinction four times in his storied career at CCSU.
Mason was the youngest head coach at the Division I level when he was named the 18th head men's basketball coach in school history on March 26, 2012 and is the fastest coach to win 100 games in Seahawk history.
The Hugh Durham award is named after a coach who built winning programs at three different universities.
In eight seasons as the head coach at Jacksonville University, Durham became the Dolphins' all-time winningest Division I coach (106 wins), making him the only coach in NCAA history to be the winningest coach (pct. or wins) at three different Division I schools.
He built national programs at Florida State where he holds the record for best winning percentage with a 230-95 (.708) record in 12 years. And at Georgia where he is also the all-time winningest coach in the 99-year history of the Bulldog program, having won 297 games in 17 seasons.
Coaches of teams in the following conferences are eligible for the award: America East, Atlantic Sun, Big Sky, Big South, Big West, Colonial, Horizon, Ivy, Metro Atlantic, Mid-American, Mid-Eastern, Missouri Valley, Northeast, Ohio Valley, Patriot, Southern, Southland, Southwestern, Summit, Sun Belt, West Coast.
2021-22 HUGH DURHAM AWARD FINALISTS
Griff Aldrich - Longwood
John Becker - Vermont
Randy Bennett - Saint Mary's
Scott Davenport - Bellarmine
Todd Golden - San Francisco
Jared Grasso - Bryant
Eric Henderson - South Dakota State
Shaheen Holloway - Saint Peter's
Ben Jacobson - Northern Iowa
Robert Jones - Norfolk State
Matt Langel - Colgate
Bashir Mason - Wagner
Matt McMahon - Murray State
Bucky McMillan - Samford
Lamont Paris - Chattanooga
Rick Pitino - Iona
Todd Simon - Southern Utah
Pat Skerry - Towson
Danny Sprinkle - Montana State
Chris Victor - Seattle
