DeGeorge a Finalist for Joe B. Hall First-Year Head Coach Honor
3/4/2025 2:01:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Cal Poly Men's Basketball
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SAN LUIS OBISPO – With the Cal Poly men’s basketball program boasting one of the nation’s most potent offenses and already with an eight-win improvement from last season, Mustangs head coach Mike DeGeorge has been named as one of 16 finalists for the CollegeInsider.com Joe B. Hall National Coach of the Year Award recognizing this season’s most outstanding first-time Division I head coach.
Named Cal Poly head coach last March after guiding Division II Colorado Mesa to four NCAA Tournaments in six years – including Sweet 16 appearances in 2022 and 2024 – DeGeorge’s Mustangs rank 32nd among 355 NCAA Division I programs at 81.0 points per game, an improvement of 18.3 per game from last season and the most significant turnaround in the nation.
Cal Poly also ranks third nationally with 31.5 three-pointers attempted per game and eighth with 10.8 three-pointers made per game. The Mustangs have scored 90-plus points in a game nine times already this year after hitting the mark just twice during the previous four years combined. Additionally, 12 different Mustangs have scored in double digits this season – the fourth highest total of any Division I program.
With victories this week at home against Cal State Fullerton (Thursday, March 6) and at Long Beach State (Saturday, March 8), Cal Poly can solidify its return to the Big West Championship.
The 2025 Joe B. Hall Award will be announced in San Antonio, Texas during the April 5 and 7 Final Four.
The award is named in honor of longtime Kentucky head coach Joe B. Hall, who produced a 297-100 overall record, received four SEC Coach of the Year honors and won the 1978 national championship.
Cal Poly closes the regular season and looks to pin down a Big West Championship seed when hosting Cal State Fullerton Thursday before visiting Long Beach State Saturday. Both matchups live on ESPN+.#RideHigh pic.twitter.com/56Qu5ihejh
— Cal Poly Men’s Basketball (@calpolymbb) March 3, 2025
