ATLANTA — The Atlanta Tipoff Club on Wednesday announced the finalists for the 2019 Werner Ladder Naismith Coach of the Year Award. Fourth-year Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes was among four coaches who made the cut.
“This is the most exciting time of year for our sport, and the competition for Werner Ladder Naismith Trophy Men’s Coach of the Year will be even more competitive as the tournament begins,” said Eric Oberman, executive director of the Atlanta Tipoff Club. “We are excited to watch these coaches push their teams toward a championship.”
Barnes—who is also a finalist for the USBWA’s Henry Iba Award for National Coach of the Year—has guided the Volunteers to a 29-5 mark. That impressive record includes a school-record 19-game winning streak, a program-record-tying three victories over top-five opponents and the second most victories in a single season in program history.
The Vols spent four weeks atop the Associated Press Top 25 rankings, and for the first time in program history, Tennessee spent the entire season ranked among the top 10.
Barnes and the Vols earned a No. 2 seed in the South Region of the NCAA Tournament, where they will face Colgate in the first round Friday afternoon in Columbus, Ohio. The game will be at Nationwide Arena and is set to tip at approximately 2:45 p.m. ET.
Fans will be able to support their favorite coach by visiting naismithtrophy.com/vote between March 22-April 3, to cast their ballot, and the fan vote will account for five percent of the overall final vote. Then, on April 7, the 2019 Werner Ladder Naismith Trophy for Men’s College Coach of the Year will be awarded at the Naismith Awards Brunch during the Final Four in Minneapolis.
“Each of the four finalists has coached their teams to outstanding seasons and are all deserving of being named Werner Ladder Naismith Coach of the Year,” said Stacy Gardella, vice president of brand marketing at WernerCo. “We look forward to watching these coaches guide their teams through the tournament in hopes of winning the championship.”
Other finalists for Werner Ladder Naismith Coach of the Year are Chris Beard (Texas Tech), Tony Bennett (Virginia) and Kelvin Sampson (Houston).
ABOUT THE OTHER FINALISTS
Chris Beard, Texas Tech
- Beard led the Red Raiders to a 26-6 record and a regular season Big 12 co-championship.
- He was named Big 12 Conference Coach of the Year.
- In his second season as head coach, Beard led his team to the Elite Eight, where his team lost to the 2018 NCAA champions, Villanova.
- His Red Raiders are the No. 3 seed in the West Region of the NCAA Tournament.
Tony Bennett, Virginia
- Bennett led Virginia to a 28-2 regular season record and the team’s fourth Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) regular season title in six years, which they shared with North Carolina.
- He was named ACC Coach of the Year for the fourth time.
- Bennett coached the Cavaliers to an ACC record with five ranked road wins this season.
- His team heads into the NCAA Tournament as the No. 1 seed in the South Region.
Kelvin Sampson, Houston
- Sampson was named The American Coach of the Year for the second-straight year.
- He led the Cougars to a school record with 29 regular-season wins and an outright conference championship.
- His team reached the top-10 in the national rankings for the first time since the mid-1980s.
- Sampson’s Cougars are the No. 3 seed in the Midwest Region of the NCAA Tournament.
UT Athletics
