ORONO, Maine -- University of Maine men's basketball head coach Ted Woodward has been named a finalist for the Skip Prosser Man of the Year award, given by CollegeInsider.com. The award was established last year in honor of the late coach to acknowledge recipients who not only achieve success on the basketball court but who display moral integrity off of it as well. Other finalists include Pittsburgh's Jamie Dixon, Temple's Fran Dunphy and Butler's Brad Stevens.
Woodward led Maine to one of the best seasons in program history, winning 19 games which is tied for the fourth-most in school history. The Black Bears, who were picked eighth in the America East preseason coaches' poll, won 11 league games and earned the No. 3 seed for the America East league championship, their highest since 2004. Maine won 13 of its last 19 games, including its first win over ACC-foe Boston College since the 1924-25 season, and held 14 opponents under 60 points this season.
The namesake of the award, Prosser, passed away tragically at the age of 56. He posted a career record of 291-146 in 14 seasons as a head coach. During his time at Wake Forest, his teams averaged 21 wins per season while playing in arguably the nation’s most difficult league, the Atlantic Coast Conference.
The Citadel’s Ed Conroy was the winner of the 2009 award and Notre Dame's Mike Brey won the inaugural award in 2008. This year’s award will be presented on April 2 in Indianapolis.