The nominees for the Naismith Coach of the Year award were released yesterday, and there were few surprises except for the absence of Kentucky head coach John Calipari.
The list included the obvious: Coach K, Roy Williams, Tony Bennett, Mark Few, Tom Izzo, etc. Then some other names to be expected: Rick Barnes, Kelvin Sampson, John Beilein, etc. Nate Oats from Buffalo, Eric Musselman from Nevada, and Mike Young from Wofford also made the cut.
Calipari was missing though. He was the only coach of a team ranked in the top 12 of both the AP and Coaches Poll not to be recognized as a nominee.