Speculation as to who will win the Naismith Player of the Year Award is in full swing, but much less attention is being paid to an even more intriguing Naismith Award, Coach of the Year, and the names in contention for it.
With a bit more than half of the season gone by already, six coaches have separated themselves from the rest of their colleagues. As there always are, names will be left out of various coaches that have turned in tremendous seasons all over the country. Nonetheless, past winners have nearly always come from high profile programs, or ones from the mid-major ranks that turned in a particularly historic seasons, like Phil Martelli (St. Joseph’s, 2004) and Greg Marshall (Wichita State, 2014).
This season, five of the top six contenders once again hail from one of the power conferences. Kentucky’s John Calipari, who has already won the award twice with UMass and Memphis, is joined by Virginia’s Tony Bennett, Maryland’s Mark Turgeon, and Wisconsin’s Bo Ryan. Mark Few, who has led Gonzaga into the undefined territory between being a mid or high-major program, is the final name on the GetMoreSports.com list of contenders.
Calipari could join Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski as the only three-time winner of the award–Krzyzewski last won the award in 1999–and would be just the second Kentucky head coach to win (Tubby Smith). Not to mention, the SEC has only won the award three times.
When Marshall won the award a year ago, it was thanks to his Shockers team that went undefeated until the NCAA Tournament. Sitting at 18-0, and 5-0 in SEC play, this Kentucky team is looking to do the same thing, only with the expectation of a national title to follow. Ever since Calipari signed his 2014 recruiting class, and had an unusual amount of holdover from the previous year, folks nationally have been wondering just how special this group could be. It’s also brought up the question of whether Calipari is one of the game’s best minds, or just one of the best recruiters. At this point, though, it’s fair to say that he’s one of the best in both areas. If UK stays unbeaten, Calipari is a lock to win the award.
Virginia isn’t one of college basketball’s traditional powers, but Bennett has turned them into a program to be reckoned with. Having already won the award in 2007 at Washington State, he has truly pulled off one of the great building jobs in America, as the Cavaliers look poised to earn their second one-seed in the NCAA Tournament in as many years. Should he win, he would join Calipari and Krzyzewski as the only coaches to win the award multiple times.
While everyone has talked about Kentucky’s undefeated chances, Virginia is sitting with zero losses as well. Now, the ACC is unquestionably tougher than the SEC and it’s much more likely that the Cavs would suffer a loss before the Wildcats. However, what if both Kentucky and UVA enter the tournament without a loss?
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Along with Kentucky, Wisconsin was expected to be at the top of its conference and among the nation’s elite. Bo Ryan has consistently churned out successful seasons in Madison without getting the proper due. Ryan has won less than 20 games only twice in his 13-plus seasons, and has won 30 games three times. Indeed, Wisconsin is rolling again with big names like Frank Kaminsky and Sam Dekker alongside a cast of talented and under-talked about role players. It’s not always easy for a coach to win this award when their team simply lives up to expectations, like being one of the best in the country and certainly the best in the Big Ten. However, Ryan should be in this conversation as much as anyone else.
The upstart on this list has to be Mark Turgeon, who coming into this season was undeniably on the hot seat in College Park.
Maryland has taken the Big Ten by storm, though they have yet to match up with Wisconsin, thanks to a roster that it took Turgeon some time to formulate. Star freshman Melo Trimble was a vital recruiting win, the type of local talent that had recently been choosing the likes of Georgetown, North Carolina or other East Coast programs. Veteran Dez Wells has taken time to fully accept his role on this squad and be effective with it, as well. But the key is that this Maryland team is defending up to their coach’s standards. Opponents have scored more than 65 points only three times all season.
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Finally, we have Mark Few.
Most knew that this could be his most talented roster ever, even better than the squad that earned a No. 1 seed just two years ago. What he has done with this team, despite losing heralded freshman point guard Josh Perkins to a broken jaw due to a freak on-court injury, has been nothing short of fantastic to watch. Their sole blemish on the resume is an overtime, three-point loss to Arizona in Tucson. Yeah, the ‘Zags are rolling and Mark Few is the engineer behind their well oiled machine.
