The Louisville head coach is one of ten semifinalists to make the list.
Louisville basketball head coach Rick Pitino is one of ten coaches who are semifinalists on this years Werner Ladder Naismith Men’s College Coach of the Year award. Pitino joins the list with Chris Collins, Scott Drew, Mark Few, Bob Huggins, Tim Jankovich, Sean Miller, Bill Self, Mike White, and Jay Wright.
Pitino is the lone coach from the ACC to be a semifinalist.
Pitino has guided this year’s Cardinal squad to a 23-7 record while going 11-6 in ACC play so far. Not only is Louisville’s record in ACC play impressive (considering most view it as the toughest overall conference in years), he’s done it while dealing with injuries to prominent players, and being able to move others in to different roles than what they are used to. He’s also been able to get guys (most notably, Ryan McMahon), who normally don’t see a lot of minutes, to become key contributors and help the Cardinals win games.
The four finalists for this year’s award will be announced on March 16th.
