McKay Tabbed Finalist for 2025-26 Ben Jobe Award
3/4/2026 1:14:00 PM | Men's Basketball
LYNCHBURG, Va. – Liberty Men's Basketball Head Coach Ritchie McKay has been tabbed a finalist for the 2025-26 Ben Jobe Award, announced by CollegeInsider.com. This is the second straight year McKay has been named a finalist for the award.
The Ben Jobe Award is presented annually to the top minority head coach in Division college basketball. McKay is one of 25 finalists for the prestigious award. Some other coaches who are finalists include: Houston's Kelvin Sampson, North Carolina's Hubert Davis, Miami's Jai Lucas and Missouri's Dennis Gates.
The recipient of the 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. The 2026 award will be announced in Indianapolis, Ind., site of the men's Division I Basketball Championship Final Four.
McKay and the Flames are in the midst of a strong 2025-26 season with a 24-5 overall record and 16-2 Conference USA mark. Liberty claimed the CUSA outright regular season title for a second straight year with an 81-78 road victory at Jacksonville State, last Saturday. McKay and Liberty won a program-record 17 straight games from Dec. 16-Feb. 19, started 15-0 in CUSA play and went 73 days between losses.
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. Jobe 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. Coach Jobe passed away on March 10, 2017.
McKay and the Flames (24-5, 16-2 CUSA) are back in action on Thursday evening, hosting Louisiana Tech (16-13, 9-9 CUSA) in their second-to-last regular season game. Tip time is 7 p.m. at Liberty Arena.
The Ben Jobe Award is presented annually to the top minority head coach in Division college basketball. McKay is one of 25 finalists for the prestigious award. Some other coaches who are finalists include: Houston's Kelvin Sampson, North Carolina's Hubert Davis, Miami's Jai Lucas and Missouri's Dennis Gates.
The recipient of the 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. The 2026 award will be announced in Indianapolis, Ind., site of the men's Division I Basketball Championship Final Four.
McKay and the Flames are in the midst of a strong 2025-26 season with a 24-5 overall record and 16-2 Conference USA mark. Liberty claimed the CUSA outright regular season title for a second straight year with an 81-78 road victory at Jacksonville State, last Saturday. McKay and Liberty won a program-record 17 straight games from Dec. 16-Feb. 19, started 15-0 in CUSA play and went 73 days between losses.
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. Jobe 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. Coach Jobe passed away on March 10, 2017.
McKay and the Flames (24-5, 16-2 CUSA) are back in action on Thursday evening, hosting Louisiana Tech (16-13, 9-9 CUSA) in their second-to-last regular season game. Tip time is 7 p.m. at Liberty Arena.
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