Auriemma, Staley Lead 2025 Women's College Coach of the Year Late-Season Contenders

Connecticut's Geno Auriemma and South Carolina's Dawn Staley headline the group of 15 head coaches on the 2025 Naismith Women's College Coach of the Year watch list heading into the home stretch of the season.

Auriemma and the Huskies got their signature win of the season on Sunday against South Carolina with an 87-58 victory over the defending national champs at The Colonial Life Arena.

Here are all of the coaches who made the watch list for the Naismith Women's College Coach of the Year revealed on Wednesday:

Geno Auriemma, Connecticut

Dawn Staley, South Carolina

Kenny Brooks, Kentucky

Kim Caldwell, Tennessee

Mark Campbell, TCU

Cori Close, UCLA

Nell Fortner, Georgia Tech

Lindsay Gottlieb, USC

Niele Ivey, Notre Dame

Kevin McGuff, Ohio State

Jeff Mittie, Kansas State

Wes Moore, North Carolina State

Kim Mulkey, LSU

Shea Ralph, Vanderbilt

Vic Schaefer, Texas

Staley has won this award four times in the past five years, including in each of the past three seasons. One more would move her into a tie with Hall of Famer Pat Summitt for the second-most among women's coaches, trailing only Auriemma (eight).

No coach in men's or women's basketball has ever won the Naismith Coach of the Year award in four consecutive seasons.

Auriemma could certainly receive a lot of support for what he's done with the Huskies so far this season. They are 24-3 overall and undefeated in Big East play (14-0) entering Wednesday.

Standing atop the current AP Top 25 poll is Notre Dame, led by head coach Niele Ivey. The Notre Dame alum has done a fantastic job now in her fifth season at her alma mater.

Ivey has the Irish (23-2) as the No. 1 team the AP poll for the first time since the 2018-19 season when they lost in the national title game to Baylor. They've won 18 straight games since Dec. 5, including victories over Connecticut, Texas and Duke.

Vic Schaefer is building a strong resume for his second Naismith Coach of the Year award. He previously won it for the 2017-18 season when Mississippi State finished 37-2 and lost in the national title game.

Schaefer has led the Longhorns to a 26-2 record with three games remaining in the regular season. In a seven-day span from Feb. 9-16, they defeated South Carolina, Kentucky and LSU.

Heading into the final stretch of the regular season, the race to be Naismith Coach of the Year looks to be a razor-thin margin between each of the 15 candidates named to the watch list.

The four finalists will be announced on March 24, with the winner being revealed on April 2.