Unfair as it may seem, Coach of the Year awards usually elude those whose teams display consistent excellence. Particularly as conferences expand, enabling more candidates to display what they can do on the bench, the chances decline that a veteran, high-achieving coach just plugging along will outshine the new guy in the league.
For the coach who’s a proven quantity, expectation may either be a curse if his or her team falters, or reaffirmation if it does well. Lack of expectations sets up greater
rewards in recognition if met by success.
This isn’t meant in any way to denigrate the job done last season at Louisville by 2024 ACC Coach of the Year Pat Kelsey, who jolted a proud program very much back to life in his first season on the job. Those who’d seen Kelsey coach at College of Charleston, where he succeeded Earl Grant, the current BC coach, expected good things even before, armed with abundant funds, the former Wake assistant played the permissive transfer portal like a virtuoso.
The Cardinals finished 18-2 in the ACC, tied for second place; ended the school’s 5-year hiatus from NCAA participation; and finished 27-8, more wins than in the previous three years combined, and more than any UL squad since 2009 (31-6).
In winning 90 percent of his conference games, Kelsey transcended all first-year coaches in ACC history.
Results like that deserve acclaim, much as Bobby Cremins did in elevating Georgia Tech from hopeful, struggling mediocrity to national power starting in 1983, the program’s fourth ACC season, and then again in 1985. (Cremins was voted ACC Coach of the Year both times, winning the ACC Tournament in ’85.) Or Cliff Ellis, who engineered a similar turnaround at perennial also-ran Clemson in 1987, winning 25 games and ACC Coach of the Year honors three years after taking up the job. Or even Bill Guthridge, the 1998 ACC Coach of the Year who took UNC to a Final Four and a 34-4 record a season after Dean Smith retired.
Jon Scheyer enjoyed a comparable debut after taking the helm from Mike Krzyzewski, including last year’s Final Four berth.
Remember all the talk about the difficulty of succeeding a legendary coach when the Duke baton was passed in 2022-23? Well, the Blue Devils haven’t missed a beat. Scheyer acquitted himself admirably in three years as a new head coach following Mike Krzyzewski, status tarnished but not seriously damaged by his 35-4 squad mishandling the closing moments of the 2025 national semifinal against Houston.
Scheyer, not yet 40 years old, figures to be a strong candidate for ACC Coach of the Year in 2025-26, especially if, as expected, he yet again demonstrates a facility for cobbling together a refurbished squad into an NCAA contender. In fact, it’s more than time for an honoree from Durham: despite Coach K’s tenure for most of this century, no Duke coach has won the award since Krzyzewski in 2000.
| WHERE DUKE DOES NOT SHINE ACC Coaches Of The Year, This Century |
||
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Pat Kelsey | Louisville |
| 2024 | Hubert Davis | UNC |
| 2023 | Jeff Capel | Pittsburgh |
| 2022 | Steve Forbes | Wake Forest |
| 2021 | Mike Young | Virginia Tech |
| 2020 | Leonard Hamilton | Florida State |
| 2019 | Tony Bennett | Virginia |
| 2018 | Tony Bennett | Virginia |
| 2017 | Josh Pastner | Georgia Tech |
| 2016 | Jim Larranaga | Miami |
| 2015 | Tony Bennett | Virginia |
| 2014 | Tony Bennett | Virginia |
| 2013 | Jim Larranaga | Miami |
| 2012 | Leonard Hamilton | Florida State |
| 2011 | Roy Williams | No. Carolina |
| 2010 | Gary Williams | Maryland |
| 2009 | Leonard Hamilton | Florida State |
| 2008 | Seth Greenberg | Virginia Tech |
| 2007 | Dave Leitao | Virginia |
| 2006 | Roy Williams | No. Carolina |
| 2005 | Seth Greenberg | Virginia Tech |
| 2004 | Herb Sendek | NC State |
| 2003 | Skip Prosser | Wake Forest |
| 2002 | Gary Williams | Maryland |
| 2001 | Paul Hewitt | Georgia Tech |
