Lutz Named Finalist for Joe B. Hall National Coach of the Year Award

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – As one of the top first-year head coaches in the country, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi head coach Steve Lutz was named a finalist for the 2022 Joe B. Hall National Coach of the Year Award.
 
The award is presented annually to the top first-year coach in Division I college basketball.
 
Lutz coached the Islanders to the NCAA Tournament in 2021-22 after winning the SLC Championship. A&M-Corpus Christi finished 23-12 overall and more-than quadrupled the team's win total after Lutz inherited a squad that ended 5-19 season in 2020-21. The 18-game turnaround was the largest in program history and one of the largest nation this year.
 
Lutz brought in the most transfers in NCAA Division I with 10 and also had the most total transfers on the roster with 12. Two of the transfers earned All-Conference recognition in Isaac Mushila and Trevian Tennyson, and another – Terrion Murdix - was named the SLC Tournament MVP and to the SLC All-Defensive Team.
 
The Islanders had 13 different student-athletes score in double-figures in a single game which was tied for the most in the nation.
 
A&M-Corpus Christi recorded its sixth 20-win season in program history and first since 2016-17. The Islanders were the only team in the SLC to have received votes this year in the CollegeInsider Mid Major Top-25 Poll.
 
The Islanders were picked to finish sixth out of eight in the SLC Preseason Poll.
 
Lutz was announced the head coach in April 2021 after spending the previous four seasons as an assistant coach at Purdue. He brought in an entirely new staff with three new assistant coaches, a director of operations, video coordinator and a pair of graduate assistants.
 
The winner of the award will be announced April 1.
 
About Joe B. Hall
A longtime Kentucky assistant, Joe B. Hall was given the task of following the legendary Adolph Rupp at the school. In his first season, Hall finished 20-8, won the SEC and advanced to the NCAA Regional Finals.

Hall coached the Wildcats from 1972 to 1985. He won two-thirds of his games (297-100), received four SEC Coach of the Year honors and won a National Championship in 1978. He also steered the program to two other Final Fours, won eight Southeastern Conference regular season championships and one Southeastern Conference tournament championship (1984).

Joe B. Hall passed away on Jan. 15, 2022, at the age of 93.
 
Finalists
Speedy Claxton, Hofstra
Hubert Davis, North Carolina
Gerald Gillion, Chicago State
Kevin Kruger, UNLV
Tommy Lloyd, Arizona
Steve Lutz, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
Tony Madlock, South Carolina State
Jordan Mincy, Jacksonville
Kyle Neptune, Fordham
David Riley, Eastern Washington
Levell Sanders, Binghamton
Brette Tanner, Abilene Christian
Drew Valentine, Loyola Chicago
Chris Victor, Seattle
Mike Woodson, Indiana
 
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