The Jim Phelan Award is presented annually to the nation’s top Division I coach. The award is named in honor of Jim Phelan who coached 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 amassed 830 wins (overall record of 830-524) in over 1,300 games in all divisions. In those 49 years, 19 of his teams amassed 20 or more wins in a season.

The 2013 recipient will be announced at the CollegeInsider.com awards banquet in Atlanta, site of the men’s NCAA Basketball Championship.

The finalists are:

Dana Altman (Oregon), John Beilein (Michigan), Mike Brey (Notre Dame), Rick Byrd (Belmont), Jim Crews (Saint Louis), Keith Dambrot (Akron), Kermit Davis (Middle Tennessee), Billy Donovan (Florida), Anthony Evans (Norfolk State), Mark Few (Gonzaga), Travis Ford (Oklahoma State), Ben Howland (UCLA), Jim Larranaga (Miami), Rick Pitino (Louisville), Bo Ryan (Wisconsin), Bill Self (Kansas), John Thompson III (Georgetown), Bruce Weber (Kansas State), Buzz Williams (Marquette), Jay Wright (Villanova)

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