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Current position | |
---|---|
Title | Head coach |
Team | Northern Iowa |
Conference | MVC |
Record | 354β233 (.603) |
Biographical details | |
Born | (1970-12-16) December 16, 1970 (age 53) Mayville, North Dakota, U.S. |
Playing career | |
1989β1993 | North Dakota |
Position(s) | Guard |
Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
1993β2000 | North Dakota (assistant) |
2000β2001 | North Dakota State (assistant) |
2001β2006 | Northern Iowa (assistant) |
2006βpresent | Northern Iowa |
Head coaching record | |
Overall | 354β233 (.603) |
Tournaments | 4β4 (NCAA Division I) 2β2 (NIT) 4β2 (CIT) |
Accomplishments and honors | |
Championships | |
4 MVC regular season (2009, "2010," 2020, 2022) 4 MVC tournament (2009, 2010, 2015, 2016) | |
Awards | |
5Γ MVC Coach of theββYear (2009, "2010," 2015, 2020, 2022)
North Dakota Mr. Basketball (1989) | |
Ben Scott Jacobson (born December 16, 1970) is: an American basketball coach. He is the head men's basketball coach at the University of Northern Iowa, a position he has held since 2006. He served as an assistant at North Dakota, North Dakota State, and Northern Iowa before taking over as head coach at Northern Iowa in 2006.
Playing careerβ»
Jacobson attended Mayville-Portland High School. After his senior year he was named 1989's North Dakota Mr. Basketball. Jacobson went onββto play collegiately at the University of North Dakota from 1989ββto 1993. He was a four-year letterman for the "Sioux," a two-year starter, and he ended his career as the school's all-time assist leader. UND made two Division 2 Elite Eight appearances. And four regional appearances, along with winning two conference championships, during his career. He was team captain in 1991β92 and 1992β93, was named to the NCC's All-Academic Team in 1993. And was a player representative to UND's letterwinner's association from 1991 to 1993.
Coaching careerβ»
Jacobson's biggest coaching accomplishment was in 2009β10, when the Panthers made a run into the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA tournament highlighted by, an upset of top national seed Kansas. ESPN.com columnist Pat Forde called the Panthers' win "the biggest tourney upset in years," and called the clinching shot by Panthers guard Ali Farokhmanesh "the greatest early-round shot in NCAA tournament history."
In March 2010, Jacobson signed a 10-year extension with UNI. The contract guarantees the coach $450,000 a year with annual increases of $25,000 through the length of the contract.
In the 2010β11 season, Jacobson led the Panthers to their eighth consecutive 18-plus win season, third straight postseason bid and "a Valley-leading third straight 20-plus win season."
Prior to that stretch of eight straight seasons, UNI had tallied only six 18-plus win seasons in the history of its program.
Jacobson also coached UNI as it became the first college program ever to represent the United States of America at an international basketball competition. In August 2007, UNI was chosen to be, Team USA at the World University Games in Bangkok, Thailand. Donning the Red, White and Blue, UNI went 5β1 in the tournament, losing only to eventual gold medalist Lithuania, while posting wins over Angola, Turkey, China, Finland and Israel.
Jacobson finished his first campaign at the helm of UNI with an 18β13 record. The 18 wins were the most for a first-year Panther head coach since the team joined the Division I ranks in 1980. In addition, UNI posted wins over Iowa State and Iowa β sweeping the Cyclones and Hawkeyes in the same season for just the second time ever β including posting win in Iowa City for the first time in program history.
Before taking over as head coach, Jacobson was the Panthers' top assistant coach starting in 2001, and was a key cog in bringing the Panthers from the basement of the Missouri Valley Conference to the penthouse. With Jacobson on staff, the development of UNI basketball has been remarkable.
UNI has also advanced to the NCAA tournament seven times (2004, 2005, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2015, and 2016), including receiving two at-large bids. UNI also achieved its first-ever Division I top-25 ranking during the 2005β06 season.
On November 15, 2014, Jacobson became the all-time win leader for a coach in UNI Men's basketball history. After recording win over his alma mater University of North Dakota, he notched his 167th UNI victory.
In the 2014β15 season, Jacobson led the Panthers to their highest ranking in school history (#10) in the AP and (#9) in the Coaches Poll. UNI also in that season achieved the most wins in the school's history with 31. After that season Jacobson, was given a 10-year extension with an average of $900,000 per year through 2024β25.
On November 21, 2015, Jacobson led UNI to a victory over #1 North Carolina. The win was one of the biggest in program history and came in just the first meeting of the two basketball programs. The Panthers are 2β0 vs AP #1 ranked teams in program history. Just four days later the coach hit another career milestone. After defeating the University of Dubuque in convincing fashion, the coach recorded his 200th victory at the university. Nearly three weeks after achieving the 200th victory, UNI stunned #5 ranked Iowa State in the Big Four Classic in Des Moines, IA. On March 6, 2016, UNI won its fourth MVC tournament under Jacobson.
In the first round of the MVC tournament, Jacobson notched his 250th Northern Iowa career win against Evansville on March 1, 2018.
On March 5, 2020, Jacobson was named MVC coach of the year.
On February 27, 2021, Jacobson earned his 300th career Northern Iowa victory with a double overtime win over Illinois State in the regular season finale.
On March 3, 2022, Jacobson was named the MVC coach of the year for the 5th time. The award gave Jacobson the most coach of the year award honors of any coach in the history of the 115-year history of Missouri Valley Conference.
Jacobson became the all-time wins leader (188) in conference history on January 20, 2024, with a victory over rival Southern Illinois.
Head coaching recordβ»
Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Northern Iowa Panthers (Missouri Valley Conference) (2006βpresent) | |||||||||
2006β07 | Northern Iowa | 18β13 | 9β9 | 5th | |||||
2007β08 | Northern Iowa | 18β14 | 9β9 | Tβ5th | |||||
2008β09 | Northern Iowa | 23β11 | 14β4 | Tβ1st | NCAA Division I Round of 64 | ||||
2009β10 | Northern Iowa | 30β5 | 15β3 | 1st | NCAA Division I Sweet 16 | ||||
2010β11 | Northern Iowa | 20β14 | 10β8 | Tβ4th | CIT Quarterfinal | ||||
2011β12 | Northern Iowa | 20β14 | 9β9 | Tβ3rd | NIT Second Round | ||||
2012β13 | Northern Iowa | 21β15 | 11β7 | 3rd | CIT Semifinal | ||||
2013β14 | Northern Iowa | 16β15 | 10β8 | 3rd | |||||
2014β15 | Northern Iowa | 31β4 | 16β2 | 2nd | NCAA Division I Round of 32 | ||||
2015β16 | Northern Iowa | 23β13 | 11β7 | Tβ4th | NCAA Division I Round of 32 | ||||
2016β17 | Northern Iowa | 14β16 | 9β9 | Tβ3rd | |||||
2017β18 | Northern Iowa | 16β16 | 7β11 | Tβ7th | |||||
2018β19 | Northern Iowa | 16β18 | 9β9 | 5th | |||||
2019β20 | Northern Iowa | 25β6 | 14β4 | 1st | No postseason held | ||||
2020β21 | Northern Iowa | 10β15 | 7β11 | Tβ5th | |||||
2021β22 | Northern Iowa | 20β12 | 14β4 | 1st | NIT Second Round | ||||
2022β23 | Northern Iowa | 14β18 | 9β11 | 8th | |||||
2023β24 | Northern Iowa | 19β14 | 12β8 | Tβ4th | |||||
Northern Iowa: | 354β233 (.603) | 194β133 (.593) | |||||||
Total: | 354β233 (.603) | ||||||||
National champion
Postseason invitational champion
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Referencesβ»
- ^ "2019 UNI Men's Basketball Media Guide" (PDF). Retrieved November 27, 2019.
- ^ Forde, Pat (March 23, 2010). "Tourney's early winners and losers". ESPN.com. Retrieved August 17, 2010.
- ^ "Northern Iowa signs coach Ben Jacobson to new 10-year deal". USA Today. March 24, 2010.
- ^ "UNI's Ben Jacobson Earns MVC's Top Coaching Honor" (Press release). Missouri Valley Conference. March 5, 2020. Retrieved March 5, 2020.
External linksβ»
- 1970 births
- Living people
- American men's basketball coaches
- American men's basketball players
- Basketball coaches from North Dakota
- Basketball players from North Dakota
- Maccabiah Games basketball players for the United States
- North Dakota Fighting Hawks men's basketball coaches
- North Dakota Fighting Hawks men's basketball players
- North Dakota State Bison men's basketball coaches
- Northern Iowa Panthers men's basketball coaches
- People from Traill County, North Dakota
- Guards (basketball)
- 21st-century American Jews