Jon Scheyer, Kelvin Sampson Lead 2025 Men's College Coach of the Year Semifinalists

Duke's Jon Scheyer and Houston's Kelvin Sampson were among the head coaches named as finalists Friday for the 2025 Naismith Men's College Basketball Coach of the Year Award.

Including Scheyer and Sampson, the 10 semifinalists for the prestigious honor are as follows:

• Jon Scheyer (Duke)
• Kelvin Sampson (Houston)
• Bruce Pearl (Auburn)
• Todd Golden (Florida)
• Rick Pitino (St. John's)
• Tom Izzo (Michigan State)
• Grant McCasland (Texas Tech)
• Pat Kelsey (Louisville)
• Dennis Gates (Missouri)
• Ben McCollum (Drake)

Of the teams ranked in the top five of the Associated Press Top 25 Poll this week, four of them have representation on the Coach of the Year semifinalist list in Duke, Houston, Auburn and Florida.

Scheyer is only in the midst of his third season as the head coach at Duke, but the Blue Devils are on pace for their best season under him.

Entering play Friday, Duke is the No. 1 team in the nation with a 29-3 record, and it is thanks largely to the play of the freshman trio of Cooper Flagg, Kon Knueppel and Khaman Maluach.

Despite having one of the youngest starting lineups among top teams, Duke has been the best team in the country, and Scheyer deserves a lot of credit for making that happen.

Sampson has built Houston into a perennial powerhouse again, as the Cougars have won 28 or more games in five consecutive seasons.

Moving from the American Athletic Conference to the Big 12 did not slow Sampson's squad down, as they went 32-5 last season and are 28-4 so far this season with a 19-1 conference record.

Other top contenders for the award include Auburn's Bruce Pearl and Florida's Todd Golden since they both have their teams in the AP Top Five with the end of the season quickly approaching.

Remarkably, despite some of the big names who have been chosen as semifinalists, none of them have won the Naismith Men's College Coach of the Year Award before.

That includes Michigan State's Tom Izzo and Rick Pitino of St. John's, who are two of the all-time greats.

Izzo has led MSU to one national title and eight Final Fours during his illustrious career, while Pitino has two national championships and seven Final Fours to his credit from stints at Providence, Kentucky and Louisville.

As the No. 7 team in the nation with a 26-5 record, Izzo has Michigan State in the title mix, which seems to always be the case.

Pitino, however, has completely changed the culture at St. John's and has the Red Storm near the top of the rankings at No. 6.

St. John's has not reached the NCAA tournament since the 2018-19 season, but Pitino has led the team to a 28-4 record, perhaps making him Scheyer's toughest challenger for the COY award.

Drake's Ben McCollum is the only coach from a mid-major school to be named a semifinalist, and he deserves plenty of recognition and credit for what he has done with the Bulldogs.

Under Darian DeVries, Drake made back-to-back appearances in the NCAA tournament and three in the past four seasons. However, it was unclear if Drake could keep it up when DeVries left to take the head coaching job at West Virginia.

The Bulldogs have been as good as ever with McCollum at the helm, compiling a 30-3 record. That will arguably make them the most dangerous mid-major team in the NCAA tournament.

If last year is any indication, the finalists of the Naismith Men's College Coach of the Year Award could be named on March 25, followed by the winner on April 7.