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Men's Basketball
If a team is a reflection of its head coach, then the University of Northern Iowa men's basketball team is in good hands.
Steady. Smart. Even-keeled. Professional. Respectful. These are just a few of the characteristics that describe third-year UNI head coach Ben Jacobson.
And he has certainly put his mark on the program in his first two seasons as the Panthers' head coach. Over the past two years, Jacobson has achieved more wins (36) than any coach in his first two seasons at UNI's helm. More than such memorable names as Stewart, Miller and McDermott did during the first two campaigns that they strolled the Panther sideline.
Jacobson was hired as head men's basketball coach on March 22, 2006, becoming the 21st head coach in UNI history, and since then, has kept the Panthers in the upper half of the rugged Missouri Valley Conference.
In fact, with a tie for fifth in last year's MVC standings, it marked the fifth straight season that the Panthers have posted an upper-division finish during the MVC's regular-season. Prior to that streak starting in 2003-04 (when UNI tied for second and won the MVC Tournament), UNI had only finished in the top half of the league standings twice since joining the conference in 1991.
Last year's UNI team, which posted an 18-14 overall mark and advanced to the semifinals of the State Farm MVC Tournament, ranked 14th in the nation in fewest turnovers per game, averaging just 11.8. The Panthers turned it over more than 13 times in a game just 11 times, with a low of five against both Loyola (Dec. 1) and Illinois State (Jan. 30).
Jacobson's 2007-08 Panthers were also stalwarts on the defensive end of the floor. They led the Missouri Valley Conference in field goal percentage defense (.395), and were third in scoring defense (60.3 ppg) - ranking 17th and 14th nationally, respectively, in those categories. UNI allowed only six opponents to score more than 68 points last year in any game, holding its foes to 50 points or less six times, and holding 13 opponents to less than 38 percent shooting.
In addition, its 61-48 win at Iowa State on Nov. 27, 2007 marked just UNI's third win in 27 games played in Ames, and only the school's second-ever win at Hilton Coliseum. The Panthers last win at Hilton was in 1997 under Eldon Miller, while UNI's other win at ISU was a 59-54 victory in the 1963-64 season, when it was a Division II school known as the State College of Iowa under the direction of Norm Stewart.
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 5-1 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 18-13 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 - sweeping the Cyclones and Hawkeyes in the same season for just the second time ever - including posting a win in Iowa City for the first time in program history.
Academics are also of the highest priority under Jacobson. The team's grade point average was better than 3.0 during the fall of 2007, which was the programs highest cumulative mark during Jacobson's seven years in Cedar Falls, including his time as an assistant. A total of 13 Panther basketball players have earned first-team, second-team or honorable mention Academic All-Conference honors since 2003.
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 won at least 18 games each of the past five seasons, the first time in school history it has accomplished that feat. The Panthers have won 101 games since the start of the 2003-04 season, marking the most successful stretch in school history, recording a 101-58 over the past five seasons. The second-best victory total over a five-season period is 86, when UNI went 86-29 from 1960-61 through 1964-65. UNI has also advanced to the NCAA tournament three times over the past five years (2004, 2005 and 2006), including receiving two at-large bids. UNI also achieved its first-ever Division I top-25 ranking during the 2005-06 season.
While this is Jacobson's first head coaching job, he had 12 years of prior assistant coaching experience. Before joining former UNI head coach Greg McDermott in Cedar Falls beginning with the 2001-02 campaign, he served one season as an assistant coach under McDermott at Division II North Dakota State. His responsibilities there included serving as recruiting and academic coordinator, in addition to summer camp director.
Jacobson has a long history in the North Central Conference, having played at the University of North Dakota from 1989-93. 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 Elite Eight appearances and four regional appearances, along with winning two conference championships, during his career. He was team captain in 1991-92 and 1992-93, was named to the NCC's All-Academic Team in 1993, and was a player representative to UND's letterwinner's association from 1991-93.
In September of 2008, his 1989-90 team from the University of North Dakota - when he was a freshman guard for the Fighting Sioux - was inducted into the UND Athletics Hall of Fame. That squad finished 28-7 overall, including a perfect 16-0 at home, and finished third in the nation.
He was a student assistant coach at North Dakota from 1993-94. From 1994-96, he was a graduate assistant at UND and became a full-time assistant coach for the Sioux from 1996-2000, prior to spending the 2000-01 season at North Dakota State University.
A native of Mayville, N.D., Jacobson graduated from Mayville-Portland High School in 1989 as Valedictorian. He received his bachelor's degree in physical education from the University of North Dakota in 1994. The 37-year-old Jacobson's wife's name is Dawn, and the couple has two children: Hunter (5) and Tanner (3). |
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