BOSTON, Mass. – University of Dayton men's basketball coach Archie Miller has been named one of 16 finalists for the 2015 Jim Phelan National Coach of the Year Award, as announced Monday.
 
Miller, who just completed his fourth year at Dayton, led his Flyers to a 27-9 overall record and to the third round of the 2015 NCAA tournament.  After an unexpected Elite Eight run in the 2014 NCAA tournament, Miller had to replace three starters and four seniors from that team.  This season the Flyers had to overcome a depleted roster that featured just six players who were recruited to Dayton and has no active player taller than 6-foot-6.

Dayton is one of six teams to have five NCAA tournament wins in the last two seasons.  The others are Arizona, UConn, Kentucky, Michigan State and Wisconsin.

The 36-year-old Miller is also in his fourth season as a head coach.  His won-loss record is 90-47.  He has led UD to wins in consecutive NCAA tournaments for the first time in 48 years, and multiple wins in consecutive tournaments for the first time in school history
 
The other finalists include Dana Altman (Oregon), Tony Bennett (Virginia), Mike Brey (Notre Dame), John Calipari (Kentucky), Jim Engles (NJIT), Mark Few (Gonzaga), Chris Holtmann (Butler), Bob Huggins (West Virginia), Larry Krystkowiak (Utah), Gregg Marshall (Wichita State), Bob McKillop (Davidson), Archie's brother Sean Miller (Arizona), Bo Ryan (Wisconsin), Mark Turgeon (Maryland) and Jay Wright (Villanova).
 
The award is named in honor of Jim Phelan who coached his entire career at Mount Saint Mary's University. He led the Mountaineers to the 1962 NCAA Men's Division II Basketball Championship.  When he retired in 2003, after coaching for 49 years, he amassed 830 wins (overall record of 830-524) in over 1,300 games in all divisions. In those 49 years, 19 of his teams amassed 20 or more wins in a season.
 
The recipient of the 2015 award will be announced at the CollegeInsider.com Awards Banquet on April 3 in Indianapolis, site of the 2015 Men's Division I Basketball Championship.