Northeast Conference Men's Basketball Coach of the Year

Jim Phelan NEC Men's Basketball Coach of the Year
Awarded for	the most outstanding men's basketball head coach in the Northeast Conference
Country	United States
History
First award	1982–83
Most recent	Chris Kraus, Stonehill

The Northeast Conference Men's Basketball Coach of the Year is a basketball award given to head coaches in the Northeast Conference (NEC). The award is presented to the head coach voted to be the most successful that season by the league's coaches. The award was first given following the 1982–83 season, the second year of the conference's existence, to Matt Furjanic of Robert Morris.^[1]

Howie Dickenman of Central Connecticut has won the most awards with four. Bashir Mason of Wagner has won three, and seven other coaches have won the award twice. One former NEC Coach of the Year has been inducted into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame as a coach: Jim Phelan (inducted 2001). Due to Phelan's success, in 2003 the NEC men's basketball coach of the year award was named in his honor.^[2] Also of note, the only year when the award was shared was in 1993 with Jim Phelan and Kevin Bannon as winners. The program with the most winners, both by total awards and distinct recipients, is former member Robert Morris, with six awards won by four coaches. Among current members, Wagner has the most by both criteria, with three coaches combining to win five awards. The only current NEC members without a winner are Sacred Heart, members since 1999, and Le Moyne, which plays its first NEC season in 2023–24.

Winners

Season	Coach	School	Conference Record	Conference Standing	Overall Record	Postseason	Source(s)
1982–83	Matt Furjanic	Robert Morris	12–2	1st (South Division)	23–8	NEC Champions NCAA first round	^[1]
1983–84	Mark Amatucci	Loyola	10–6	T-3rd	16–12		^[1]
1984–85	Tom Green	Fairleigh Dickinson	10–4	2nd	21–10	NEC Champions NCAA first round	^[1]
1985–86	Tom Green (2)	Fairleigh Dickinson	13–3	1st	22–8		^[1]
1986–87	Dave Magarity	Marist	15–1	1st	20–10	NEC Champions NCAA first round	^[1]
1987–88	Wayne Szoke	Monmouth	11–5	T-3rd	16–13		^[1]
1988–89	Jarrett Durham	Robert Morris	12–4	1st	21–9	NEC Champions NCAA first round	^[1]
1989–90	Jarrett Durham (2)	Robert Morris	12–4	1st	22–8	NEC Champions NCAA first round	^[1]
1990–91	Rich Zvosec	St. Francis (NY)	8–8	T-5th	15–14		^[1]
1991–92	Tim Capstraw	Wagner	9–7	4th	16–12		^[1]
1992–93	Kevin Bannon	Rider	14–4	1st	19–11	NEC Champions NCAA first round	^[1]
1992–93	Jim Phelan	Mount St. Mary's	10–8	T-3rd	14–16		^[1]
1993–94	Kevin Bannon (2)	Rider	14–4	1st	21–9	NEC Champions NCAA first round	^[1]
1994–95	Dave Magarity (2)	Marist	12–6	T-2nd	17–11		^[1]
1995–96	Jim Phelan (2)	Mount St. Mary's	16–2	1st	21–8	NIT first round	^[1]
1996–97	Ray Haskins	Long Island	15–3	1st	21–9	NEC Champions NCAA first round	^[1]
1997–98	Ron Ganulin	St. Francis (NY)	10–6	T-3rd	15–12		^[1]
1998–99	Tom Sullivan	UMBC	17–3	1st	19–9		^[1]
1999–2000	Howie Dickenman	Central Connecticut	15–3	1st	25–6	NEC Champions NCAA first round	^[1]
2000–01	Dave Calloway	Monmouth	15–5	2nd	21–10	NEC Champions NCAA first round	^[1]
2001–02	Howie Dickenman (2)	Central Connecticut	19–1	1st	26–5	NEC Champions NCAA first round	^[1]
2002–03	Dereck Whittenburg	Wagner	14–4	1st	21–11	NEC Champions NCAA first round	^[1]
2003–04	Ron Ganulin (2)	St. Francis (NY)	12–6	1st	15–3		^[1]
2004–05	Jim Ferry	Long Island	10–8	4th	14–15		^[1]
2005–06	Howie Dickenman (3)	Central Connecticut	13–5	2nd	18–11		^[1]
2006–07	Howie Dickenman (4)	Central Connecticut	16–2	1st	22–12	NEC Champions NCAA first round	^[1]
2007–08	Mike Rice Jr.	Robert Morris	15–3	1st	24–11	NEC Champions NCAA first round	^[1]
2008–09	Mike Rice Jr. (2)	Robert Morris	15–3	1st	23–12	NEC Champions NCAA first round	^[1]
2009–10	Tom Moore	Quinnipiac	15–3	1st	23–10	NIT first round	^[1]
2010–11	Jim Ferry (2)	Long Island	16–2	1st	27–6	NEC Champions NCAA second round	^[1]
2011–12	Glenn Braica	St. Francis Brooklyn	12–6	4th	15–15		^[1]
2012–13	Tim O'Shea	Bryant	12–6	T-2nd	19–11	CBI first round	^[1]
2013–14	Andrew Toole	Robert Morris	14–2	1st	22–14	NIT second round	^[1]
2014–15	Glenn Braica (2)	St. Francis Brooklyn	15–3	1st	23–12	NIT first round	^[3]
2015–16	Bashir Mason	Wagner	13–5	1st	23–11	NIT second round	^[4]
2016–17	Jamion Christian	Mount St. Mary's	14–4	1st	20–16	NEC Champions NCAA first round	^[5]
2017–18	Bashir Mason (2)	Wagner	14–4	1st	23–10	NIT first round	^[6]
2018–19	Rob Krimmel	Saint Francis (PA)	12–6	T-1st	18–15	NIT first round	^[7]
2019–20	Joe Gallo	Merrimack	14–4	1st	20–11	NEC Regular-Season Champions^[a]	^[8]
2020–21	Bashir Mason (3)	Wagner	13–5	1st	13–7		^[9]
2021–22	Jared Grasso	Bryant	16–2	1st	22–10	NEC Champions NCAA First Four	^[10]
2022–23	Chris Kraus	Stonehill	10–6	T-2nd	14–17	^[b]	^[11]
2023–24	Patrick Sellers	Central Connecticut	13–3	T-1st	TBD	TBD	^[12]

Winners by school

Years in this table reflect calendar years in which basketball seasons end. Since the basketball season spans two calendar years, each school's first year of membership in this table is the calendar year after its actual arrival in the conference.

School (NEC participation)	Winners	Years
Robert Morris (1982–2020)	6	1983, 1989, 1990, 2008, 2009, 2014
St. Francis Brooklyn (1982–2023)	5	1991, 1998, 2004, 2012, 2015
Wagner (1982–present)	5	1992, 2003, 2016, 2018, 2021
Central Connecticut (1997–present)	5	2000, 2002, 2006, 2007, 2024
LIU (1982–present)^[c]	3	1997, 2005, 2011
Mount St. Mary's (1989–2022)	3	1993, 1996, 2017
Fairleigh Dickinson (1982–present)	2	1985, 1986
Marist (1981–1997)	2	1987, 1995
Monmouth (1985–2013)	2	1988, 2001
Rider (1992–1997)	2	1993, 1994
Bryant (2008–2022)	2	2013, 2022
Loyola (1981–1989)	1	1984
Merrimack (2020–present)	1	2020
Quinnipiac (1998–2013)	1	2010
Saint Francis (1982–present)	1	2019
Stonehill (2022–present)	1	2023
Le Moyne (2024–present)	0	—
Sacred Heart (1999–present)	0	—

Notes

References

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