BATON ROUGE – LSU men’s basketball coach Johnny Jones is among the 48 basketball coaches taking part in the 2016 Coaches’ Charity Challenge in partnership with the National Association of Basketball Coaches, the NCAA and ESPN.
Now in its sixth year, the program consists of 48 NCAA Division I men’s basketball coaches competing for fan votes in a four-round contest that helps raise money for charities of the coaches’ choice.
Coach Jones has chosen as his charity recipient, the Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank.
Donations throughout the competition will be made totaling over $345,000. The further the coaches advance in the competition, the more money is raised for their respective charities. The winning coach will receive $100,000 to benefit his charity of choice.
Fans will decide who the winner is over the next 10 weeks, casting votes on a custom online microsite at www.espn.com/infiniti. Voters can cast one voter per day for a coach’s charity. The site is now open for voting.
The first round of voting is underway through Jan. 24, with half of the coaches advancing to a second round held between Jan. 25 and Feb. 14. From Feb. 15-28, the 16 advancing coaches from round two will compete in a third round where only four coaches advance to the final round.
While only one coach will win the grand prize, there is a guarantee of at least $1,000 to each coach’s charitable organization.
“The significant contributions made by men’s college basketball coaches in their own communities and across American are amplified by the Coaches’ Charity Challenge,” said NABC Executive Director Jim Haney. “In the past five years through the Challenge, college basketball fans across the country have joined with these outstanding coaches to raise funds and awareness for a great number of charitable organizations.”
ESPN will promote the Coaches’ Charity Challenge across many different platforms including ESPN broadcast, ESPN.com and several social media platforms.