So it’s a pretty well-known fact that Coach Cal is one of the best coaches in the country, right? Well according to the Naismith award, he’s not.
Coach of the Year Candidates:
— NCAA March Madness (@marchmadness) February 27, 2019
Rick Barnes
Chris Beard
John Beilein
Tony Bennett
Mark Few
Tom Izzo
Mike Krzyzewski
Chris Mack
Eric Musselman
Nate Oats
Matt Painter
Kelvin Sampson
Roy Williams
Steve Wojciechowski
Mike Young
https://t.co/iMNCKFrzsk pic.twitter.com/7QPipQAk3E
Sure, Kentucky got off to a rocky start losing to Duke by 34 on opening night and then a bad loss to Seton Hall, but Cal has turned this team around and has made them a legitimate national title contender in only the span of three months. He has the Wildcats sitting at 24-4, the same record as Duke mind you, and sitting at a current No. 1 seed after many people threw in the towel on the Wildcats on opening night.
Cal has also made this Kentucky Wildcats squad one of the best defensive teams in the country, having Kentucky in top-10 of KenPom adjusted defensive efficiency and offensive efficiency.
While guys like Chris Beard, Chris Mack, Kelvin Sampson, and Rick Barnes deserve to be on the list; having Roy Williams, Coach K, and even Tom Izzo on the list without Cal on there is highway robbery. And Tony Bennett was coach of the year last year and lost to a 16 seed, just saying. Will Wade was also notably left off the list.
Everyone else seems to agree that Cal needed to be on the list:
Kentucky Basketball is 24-4 and ranked 4th in the country. UK is starting four-freshmen and one sophomore.
— Rex Chapman (@rex_rexchapman) February 27, 2019
John Calipari isn’t on the Coach of the Year list. ♂️ @KentuckyMBB https://t.co/miMT5CviAx
Coach K made it but Cal didn't? What the... https://t.co/K8rwFXDRKM
— Keeping It Heel (@KeepingItHeel) February 27, 2019
@KentuckyMBB John Calipari not on this list ? You’ve got to be kidding me. Voters have no clue or agendas. One or the other https://t.co/ti18dzWEMS
— Jimmy Dykes (@CoachJimmyDykes) February 27, 2019
What a complete joke!
— Oscar Combs (@wildcatnews) February 27, 2019
Only one coach is missing who has a team currently ranked in the Top 12 of both AP and Coaches’ Polls.
Guess who that coach is. https://t.co/LoZaVrswij
I hope we get extra Swaggy Cal after this snub. I demand a re-count.
Lmao ♂️ https://t.co/kF57IjAKLU
— Brad Calipari (@bradcalipari) February 27, 2019
We know one thing, there’s no other coach we’d want leading this program. https://t.co/r0M4Z7XPDw
— Kentucky Basketball (@KentuckyMBB) February 27, 2019
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