A-State men’s basketball Head Coach Ryan Pannone announced as finalist for Joe B. Hall Award

Jonesboro, AR – Contributed – Arkansas State men’s basketball head coach Ryan Pannone was announced as one of 16 finalists for the 2025-26 Joe B. Hall National Coach of the Year Award, CollegeInsider.com announced Thursday.

The award is presented annually to the top first-time head coach in Division I college basketball and is named after former Kentucky men’s basketball head coach Joe B. Hall, who succeeded Adolph Rupp and won 20 games in his first season. The recipient of the annual award is determined by a 10-member voting committee, which consists of two CollegeInsider.com senior staff members alongside current and former head coaches.

Despite the Red Wolves not returning a single player from the previous season for the first time since 1944-45, Pannone guided the team to 20 wins in the regular season. He joined Grant McCasland as the only A-State head coach to achieve the feat in their first year.

A-State (20-11, 11-7 SBC) and Miami (FL) (24-6, 13-4 ACC) are the only teams in the nation to win 20-plus games in 2025-26 with no returners from the year prior. Other teams that fielded no returners were Baylor, Cleveland State, Memphis, North Texas and Sacramento State.

The Scarlet and Black tied for second place in the Sun Belt Conference regular season standings, the highest finish by a first-year A-State head coach.

JOE B. HALL AWARD FINALISTS