UNI’s Ben Jacobson has been named the Missouri Valley Coach of the Year for a record fifth time. Jacobson helped lead a Panther team that battle early season injuries and a 4-7 start to win a second Valley regular season titles in three years.

Jacobson says the success of this season can be traced to last spring.

In his 16th season at the helm Jacobson credits the players for building a consistent winner.

The Panthers are the top seed in the Valley Tournament and open at Noon today (Friday), against Illinois State.