BOSTON -- Missouri State men's basketball head coach Cuonzo Martin has been named as one of 16 national finalists for two national coaching awards -- the Hugh Durham National Coach of the Year and the Ben Jobe Award -- as announced Tuesday (March 23) by CollegeInsider.com.

The Hugh Durham Award is presented annually to the top mid-major coach in Division I college basketball and is named after the first coach to lead two different schools to the NCAA Final Four for the first and only time in school history (Florida State in 1972 and Georgia in 1983).

The Ben Jobe Award is presented annually to the top minority head coach in Division I and is named for the coaching icon best known for his success at Southern University.

Winners of both awards will be announced at the CollegeInsider.com Awards Banquet in Houston on April 1, site of the 2011 Men's Final Four.

Martin recently completed his third season at Missouri State and guided the Bears to their second straight postseason appearance in 2011, culminating with a second-round advancement in the National Invitation Tournament. He became Missouri State's first-ever recipient of the Missouri Valley Conference Coach of the Year Award this season after leading MSU to its first MVC regular-season title. His record stands at 61-41 over his first three campaigns at MSU, including a 50-21 mark the last two seasons and 36-3 ledger at JQH Arena since 2009-10.

In June 2010, the Missouri State Board of Governors approved a guaranteed five-year contract extension for the 39-year-old Martin through April 1, 2015. He became Missouri State's 16th men's basketball coach on April 1, 2008.