Southern Illinois University head coach Barry Hinson was named the Missouri Valley Conference Coach of the Year at the Arch Madness pre-tournament luncheon on Thursday. Hinson, a 13-year veteran of the MVC, who coached nine seasons at Missouri State and is in his fourth year at SIU, won the prestigious honor for the first time in his career.
The Salukis have been the comeback story of the 2015-16 season. Picked to finish ninth in the preseason poll, they posted an 11-2 non-conference record and an 11-7 league mark to finish tied for fourth place with Northern Iowa. The 22 wins are the most since the 2007 team won 29 games and advanced to the Sweet 16. At 22-9 overall, SIU posted its first winning season since 2008.
Hinson edged Wichita State head coach Gregg Marshall in the voting with 84 total points (to Marshall's 81 points). Evansville's Marty Simmons was third in the balloting, conducted by league coaches, media and sports information directors. Hinson has finished among the top three vote getters in three of his four seasons at Southern. In 2013, he was third in the balloting, despite the team finishing in 10th place. In 2014, he placed second after guiding the Salukis to a tie for fourth place in the league standings.
VOTING BREAKDOWN (top 5 vote-getters only)
| Coach | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | TOTAL |
| Barry Hinson, Southern Illinois | 17 | 13 | 7 | 84 |
| Gregg Marshall, Wichita State | 18 | 10 | 7 | 81 |
| Marty Simmons, Evansville | 5 | 9 | 15 | 48 |
| Ben Jacobson, UNI | 3 | 7 | 4 | 27 |
| Dan Muller, Illinois State | 2 | 6 | 8 | 26 |
Hinson’s name is synonymous with the Missouri Valley Conference. Only Oklahoma State’s Henry Iba (23), and Creighton’s Eddie Hickey (20) and Dana Altman (16) have coached more seasons or won more games as a league head coach. With a 231-183 overall mark and a 125-109 record in conference games, he is fourth all-time in total wins.
Only two coaches have won more games at the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament. Hinson is 13-11 in 12 trips to Arch Madness and trails only Dana Altman (21) and Rich Herrin (17) in total victories.
Hinson is the fifth Saluki coach to win MVC Coach of the Year honors, joining Rich Herrin (1990), Bruce Weber (2003), Matt Painter (2004) and Chris Lowery (2005, 2007).
