ATLANTA – Georgia Southern Men's Basketball Head Coach Mark Byington has been named this year's Whack Hyder Georgia College Coach of the Year by the Atlanta Tipoff Club. Byington, in his second season at Georgia Southern led the Eagles to a 21-8 regular season and the No. 2 seed for the upcoming Sun Belt Conference Tournament in New Orleans.

This award is presented annually to a college basketball coach in Georgia who achieves great success on the court. The award is named for Georgia native John "Whack" Hyder, who was a former Georgia Tech head basketball coach and Word War II veteran. Hyder co-founded the Atlanta Tipoff Club and was the founder of the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts.

"It's an honor to receive an award named after legendary coach Coach Hyder, and to be on a list of other former recipients such as my mentor Bobby Cremins and former Georgia Southern coach Frank Kerns," said Coach Byington. "I feel that anytime a head coach is acknowledged, the credit belongs to his players and his staff. That certainly is the case with me receiving this award."

Byington is the third Georgia Southern coach to receive the honor, joining Frank Kerns (1988, 1989) and Jeff Price (2008). Coach Byington's mentor, Bobby Cremins, won the award six times while at Georgia Tech.

The award will be given at the Atlanta Tipoff Club's Naismith Awards Banquet on Tuesday, March 24th, at the Georgia International Convention Center.

All-session ticket books to this year's Sun Belt Basketball Championships March 11-15, in New Orleans are available for $99 at the Georgia Southern Ticket Office. Call 1-800-GSU-WINS!

Georgia Southern Athletics provides up-to-date information on all its sports through its official website, GSEagles.com, through social media channels facebook.com/GSAthletics, twitter.com/GSAthletics, iOS app Georgia Southern Eagles and Android app Eagles GATA. For tickets to Georgia Southern athletics events, call 1-800-GSU-WINS or visit GSEagles.com.