The Sweet 16 field is set after the first weekend of the 2025 NCAA Tournament. On Monday, the Naismith Men’s Basketball Coach of the Year finalists were announced, and three of them are still alive in March Madness.
The four finalists are Rick Pitino (St. John’s), Bruce Pearl (Auburn), Kelvin Sampson (Houston) and Jon Scheyer (Duke).
The winner will be announced on April 6 during the Final Four events in San Antonio.
Furthermore, three of the four coaches earned a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament with Pitino’s St. John’s team getting a No. 2 seed.
All four coaches are deserving of the nominations, although the ACC was the brunt of a major roast session after the news came. Scheyer, who has Duke at a 33-3 record as of Monday, was not named the ACC Coach of the Year, losing out on the award to Louisville’s Pat Kelsey.
Yet Scheyer made the Naismith finalist list, which was quite a discussion by fans on Monday.
“3 deserving conference COYs and then the guy the ACC wouldn’t give it to him bcuz he “did what he was supposed to do” lmao, ACC is pathetic,” one fan wrote.
“This is why the ACC is a joke. In a year where their schools have been laughed at and couldn’t even make it past the first round, they still couldn’t give Scheyer coach of the year despite his dominance at Duke. Up for the Naismith COY but not the ACC is insane,” wrote another. “And somehow Jon wasn’t ACC COY,” another replied. “This just makes the ACC media members who vote look like the fools they are for not voting Jon Scheyer ACC Coach of the Year. Their voting rights should be revoked…..” wrote another.
“Where’s Pat Kelsey? Besides at home,” said another.
“Where is the ACC COY at? Lol,” asked another fan.
Kelsey, who is in his first season with Louisville, took the Cardinals to the ACC title game and an NCAA Tournament trip. He had 47 votes for ACC Coach of the Year while Scheyer had 25 votes. Yet, it is Scheyer who is a finalist for the Naismith Award while Kelsey misses the cut.
