Ok, as the regular season comes to a finish, who are the leading ACC Coach of the Year Candidates? Right now, there isn’t a clear runaway, but there are 3 coaches with compelling cases.
Jai Lucas, Miami
Miami was the ACC’s worst team last year. They only won 7 total games, but Jai Lucas has been outstanding in his first year at Miami, going 22-6 (11-4) so far. Jai Lucas and Miami are headed to the NCAA Tournament, barring a total catastrophe. The Canes were pre-season picked number 8 and sit in a solid position for a double-bye in the ACCT. It has been an amazing turnaround for the Hurricanes.
Ryan Odom, Virginia
The Ryan Odom hire from VCU has been a homerun so far. Virginia is ranked in the top 15 with a 25-3 (13-2) record, and they’ve been clearly the ACC’s number 2 team after being picked number 5. It’s never easy to replace a legend like Tony Bennett, which is effectively what he has done following interim coach Ron Sanchez. Odom has rebuilt Virginia into one of the ACC’s best programs in just his first year.
Jon Scheyer, Duke
Coach of the year awards seem to go to coaches who exceed expectations, but what about coaches with sustained excellence? Duke was the ACC favorite, but Scheyer has the Blue Devils 26-2 (14-1) and likely headed towards the number 1 overall seed in the NCAA tournament. If you want to go the exceed expectations route, Duke was a top 10 team, but now they are the country’s number 1 team.
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