Geno Auriemma, Cori Close Headline 2026 Naismith Women's College Coach of the Year Finalists

The finalists for the 2026 Naismith Women's College Coach of the Year have been unveiled.

On Wednesday, the Atlanta Tipoff Club announced Connecticut's Geno Auriemma, UCLA's Cori Close, Vanderbilt's Shea Ralph and Texas' Vic Schaefer as the four coaches vying for the award.

Auriemma, Close and Schaefer have all won the award before. Auriemma's eight career Naismith Coach of the Year wins are the most all-time among men's and women's coaches.

Despite being arguably the most decorated coach in college basketball history, Auriemma hasn't received the Naismith award since the 2016-17 season. It's tied for the longest drought of his career.

UConn has been the most dominant team in the country all season. The team is now 36-0 after winning its first two tournament games by a combined 91 points.

Close is the reigning Naismith Coach of the Year winner after a 34-3 record in 2024-25. She has improved on that this season, leading the Bruins to a 33-1 mark and a perfect 18-0 record in Big Ten play.

If Close were to win again, she would become the eighth women's coach with multiple Naismith Coach of the Year awards. Auriemma, Muffett McGraw and Dawn Staley are the only coaches to win the award in consecutive years.

Schaefer is looking to become the first women's coach to win the award for two different programs. The 65-year-old previously received the honor in 2017-18 after leading Mississippi State to a 37-2 record.

Now in his sixth season at Texas, Schaefer has led the program to three consecutive No. 1 seeds in the NCAA tournament. The Longhorns are two victories away from tying the program single-season wins record (35).

Ralph is something of a Cinderella among this group of heavyweight coaches. Now in her fifth season at Vanderbilt, the 48-year-old has done an incredible job of rebuilding the program since taking over in April 2021.

The Commodores' 29 wins are the second-most in a single season in program history. They earned a No. 2 seed in the NCAA tournament, their highest seed since the 2006-07 season.

Ralph has led Vanderbilt into the Sweet 16 for the first time in 17 years. A victory over Notre Dame on Friday would mark the program's best tournament run since 2001-02.

The Atlanta Tipoff Club will announce the winners of the Naismith Awards prior to the Final Four next week.