BOSTON, Mass. — William & Mary head men’s basketball coach Brian Earl was named a finalist for the 2024-25 Hugh Durham Award, CollegeInsider.com announced on Tuesday. The award is presented annually to the top mid-major head coach in college basketball.
Earl was one of 25 coaches nationally and one of two in the CAA to earn a spot on the finalist list along with Towson’s Pat Skerry.
In his first season with the Tribe, Earl led the program to 17 regular-season wins, including 11 in CAA play, and the No. 4 seed in the 2025 Jersey Mike’s CAA Men’s Basketball Championship, March 7-11. By virtue of securing a top-four seed, W&M receives the important double bye into the CAA Quarterfinals on Sunday, March 9.
W&M’s 17 wins rank 12th in program history and it marks just the 15th time in the 119-year history of Tribe basketball that a team reached the win total. It is also just the seventh time in W&M’s 40-year history in the CAA that it achieved 11 league wins.
Nationally, the Tribe ranks sixth in conference record improvement from last season to this year (7.0) and is third among mid-major programs. W&M is 19th in the country in overall record improvement this season (8.0), which is 10th in the mid-major ranks. The Green and Gold is one of only four programs nationally to win four or fewer league games last season and win at least 11 this season.
Earl has led a fast-paced, exciting style at W&M. The Tribe ranks among the top 30 nationally in 3-pointers attempted (eight at 29.9 per game), bench points (ninth at 32.2), assist rate (13th at 61.7%), 3-pointers made (14th at 10.5), fastbreak points (18th at 14.5), tempo (22nd at 71.4 possessions per game), and 28th in assists (16.5).
The Hugh Durham award is named in honor of the former Florida State, Georgia and Jacksonville head coach. In eight seasons, at Jacksonville University, Durham became the Dolphins’ all-time winningest Division I coach (106 wins), making him the only coach in NCAA history to be the winningest coach (pct. or wins) at three different Division I schools.
Durham coached Florida State and Georgia to a combined 8 NCAA Tournament appearances, and 2 Final Fours. He is one of 17 coaches to take multiple teams to the Final Four.
Coaches of teams in the following conferences are eligible for the award: America East, ASUN, Big Sky, Big South, Big West, CAA, CUSA, Horizon, Independents, Ivy, Metro Atlantic, Mid-American, MEAC, Missouri Valley, Northeast, Ohio Valley, Patriot, Southern, Southland, SWAC, Summit, Sun Belt, WAC, West Coast.
The recipient of the award is determined by a 10-member voting committee, which consists of current and former head coaches, as well as two senior staff members of CollegeInsider.com. The 2025 award will be announced in San Antonio, Texas, site of the Division I Men’s Basketball Championship.
W&M will face one of three opponents — No. 5 seed Campbell, No. 12 Delaware or No. 13 Stony Brook — in the CAA Quarterfinals. The Blue Hens and Seawolves open the tournament on Friday, March 7, at 2 p.m. with the winner facing the Camels on Saturday, March 8, at 2:30 p.m. The Green and Gold draws the winner of that second-round match-up on Sunday, March 9, at 2:30 p.m.
The CAA Quarterfinals will be broadcast on FloCollege and fans can listen into the action over the Tribe Sports Network with Jay Colley on the call. The Tide 92.3FM in Williamsburg is the flagship station of the Tribe Sports Network.
2025 Hugh Durham Coach of the Year Finalists
Lennie Acuff (Lipscomb)
Randy Bennett (Saint Mary’s)
Alvin Brooks (Lamar)
Chris Crutchfield (Omaha)
John Dunne (Marist)
Brian Earl (William & Mary)
John Groce (Akron)
Ray Harper (Jacksonville State)
Alan Huss (High Point)
Kevin Johnson (Southern)
James Jones (Yale)
Robert Jones (Norfolk State)
Chris Markwood (Maine)
Ben McCollum (Drake)
David McLaughlin (Dartmouth)
Ritchie McKay (Liberty)
Eric Olen (UC San Diego)
Todd Phillips (Utah Valley)
Tony Pujol (North Alabama)
Ritchie Riley (South Alabama)
Patrick Sellers (Central Connecticut State)
Pat Skerry (Towson)
John Tauer (St. Thomas)
Andy Toole (Robert Morris)
Will Wade (McNeese)
