BOSTON – UC San Diego head coach Clint Allard '08 has been named a finalist for the Joe B. Hall Award. The honor is handed down to the top first year head coach in Division I college basketball each year.
 
With two games remaining in the regular season, UC San Diego has won 21 games – including five straight. Allard led this year's Tritons to a title in the Terry's Chocolate ESPN Events Invitational in November and at 10-1, the team got off to the best start in the program's Division I history.
 
Last month, the Tritons secured their third consecutive 20-win season, and UC San Diego won its 100th game as a Division I program. With two games to go, the Tritons are tied for third in The Big West standings.
 
The Joe B. Hall award is named in honor of longtime Kentucky head coach Joe B. Hall who was given the task of following the legendary Adolph Rupp at the school. In his first season, Hall finished 20-8, won the SEC and advanced to the NCAA Regional Finals.

Hall coached the Wildcats from 1972 to 1985. He won two-thirds of his games (297-100), received four SEC Coach of the Year honors, and won a National Championship in 1978. He also steered the program to two other Final Fours, won eight Southeastern Conference regular season championships and one Southeastern Conference tournament championship (1984).

The recipient of the annual 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 2026 award will be announced in Indianapolis, IN, site of the men's Division I Basketball Championship.

About UC San Diego Athletics
After two decades as one of the most successful programs in NCAA Division II, the UC San Diego intercollegiate athletics program began a new era in 2020 as a member of The Big West in NCAA Division I. The 23-sport Tritons earned 30 team and nearly 150 individual national championships during its time in Divisions II and III and helped guide 1,400 scholar-athletes to All-America honors. A total of 83 Tritons have earned Academic All-America honors, while 38 have earned prestigious NCAA Post Graduate Scholarships. UC San Diego scholar-athletes exemplify the academic ideals of one of the world's preeminent institutions, graduating at an average rate of 90 percent, the highest rate among public institutions in Divisions I and II.