Coach Gary Waters Ben Jobe award nomination

I wrote this story for the Cleveland Stater, Cleveland State University's laboratory newspaper during the Spring 2014 semester. It was one of my earlier stories, but I actually ended up being very pleased with it; it was my first time interviewing a "celebrity," local or otherwise. Enjoy.

By Lalita Smith

Cleveland State University’s

very own men’s head basketball

coach Gary Waters has been

named a finalist for the Ben

Jobe National Coach of the Year

award.

The Ben Jobe award is a minority

coaching award presented

by Collegeinsider.com. It is

awarded annually to the top

minority Division I men’s basketball

coach.

“This award recognizes class

and coaching excellence, which

all of the finalists embody,” said

Angela Lento, co-founder of

Collegeinsider.com, in a recent

press release.

The Ben Jobe award was created

as a way to pay tribute to

and recognize outstanding minority

coaches.

The award is named in honor

of Coach Ben Jobe. Coach Jobe

made history as a legend among

men’s basketball at historically

black colleges and universities,

according to benjobeward.com

“It’s a great award because it’s

been given to what I call very

qualified and quality people, in

the past,” said Waters.

“To be even considered is an

honor.”

Coach Jobe is recognized most

often as the head coach of the

Southern University Jaguars,

in his 12 years there he led

the team to four NCAA tournaments,

won 11 Southwestern

Athletic Conference championships

and won five Southern

Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

championships.

“It feels good [to be a finalist],

it feels that they’re recognizing

that you’ve contributed to the

game of basketball,” said Waters.

And his contributions to basketball

here at Cleveland State

have been nothing short of legendary.

Last season Waters became

the winningest head basketball

coach in Cleveland State history

as he recorded his record breaking

150th win on Jan. 28.

He also led the Vikings to a 21-

12 regular season record, his

two Horizon League Championships

in 2009 and 2011 stand as

the first and only times Cleveland

State have been league

champions in school history.

“[If I were to win] it would

mean that I’ve been acknowledged

by my peers, that I have contributed to the game over

the years,” said Waters.

Not only does Waters contribute

on the court—but he does

so off the court as well.

Waters is a co-chair of the

2014 Radiance Faculty and

Staff Campaign—a fund raising

campaign whose main goal

is to raise and distribute scholarships

to academically qualified

students who are at risk of

dropping out due to financial

struggles or limitations.

“I think it’s a quality program

and I think it’s something that

all the faculty and staff here

need to be a part of,” said Waters.

Waters is one of 15 finalists for

this year’s award—other finalists

include Rob Murphy (Eastern

Michigan), Ron Hunter

(Georgia State) and Joe Jones

(Boston University).

The winner will be announced

at an award banquet hosted by

Collegeinsider.com on April 4

in Dallas, Texas.