Dusty May Headlines 2026 Men's College Coach of the Year Watch List

In a season full of standout coaching performances for teams across the country, Michigan's Dusty May and Duke's Jon Scheyer are among the names on the Naismith College Coach of the Year watch list.

On Friday, the Atlanta Tipoff Club unveiled the 15 men's coaches who made the 2025-26 Men's College Coach of the Year late-season watch list.

2025-26 Naismith Coach of the Year Watch List

• Dusty May, Michigan
• Jon Scheyer, Duke
• Kelvin Sampson, Houston
• Tommy Lloyd, Arizona
• Dan Hurley, Connecticut
• T.J. Otzelberger, Iowa State
• Fred Hoiberg, Nebraska
• Brad Brownell, Clemson
• Mark Byington, Vanderbilt
• Tom Izzo, Michigan State
• Ryan Odom, Virginia
• Josh Schertz, Saint Louis
• Bill Self, Kansas
• Travis Steele, Miami (OH)
• Brad Underwood, Illinois

May has done an incredible job with the Michigan program since being hired in March 2024. He took over the team coming off an 8-24 record in Juwan Howard's final season in 2023-24.

After leading the Wolverines to 27 wins and reaching the Sweet 16 in his debut season, May has them off to a 25-1 start this season. They climbed up to No. 1 in the AP Top 25 poll this week for the first time since the 2012-13 season when they advanced to the national title game.

Michigan already has victories over Gonzaga, Nebraska and Michigan State. Saturday could go a long way toward determining the winner of this award, as the Wolverines will square off with Duke in Washington D.C.

Scheyer had the nation's best recruiting class coming into this season, and has coached this young group up to be arguably the best team in the nation. The Blue Devils haven't been ranked lower than sixth in the AP poll at any point. Their two losses, against Texas Tech and North Carolina, so far are by a combined four points.

Even though Duke is regularly among the best teams in the nation on an annual basis, that success combined with frequently having high-profile talent might work against their coaches.

Mike Krzyzewski's last time winning the Naismith Coach of the Year award was the 1998-99 season. Scheyer has not won the award in each of his first three seasons with the program.

Among the non-traditional basketball powers that have emerged this season, Fred Hoiberg seem like a strong contender to win the award. He has led them to the program's highest-ever AP ranking this season when they climbed up to No. 5 for the week of Jan. 26.

Even with four losses in their last six games after a 20-0 start, the Cornhuskers are still ninth in the current AP Top 25 poll. Their 22 wins overall this season are tied for the third-most in program history and could surpass the 1990-91 team for the most wins in a single season (26) if they win out in the regular season.