Upon the release of the ACC award selections, Duke basketball head coach Jon Scheyer was not selected as the ACC Coach of the Year, and many will probably say he was snubbed of the honor. The award was given to Louisville head coach Pat Kelsey, who received 47 votes to Scheyer's 25.
Scheyer has delivered probably as much success to the Duke basketball program this season as anyone could have asked for. The Blue Devils finished the regular season 28-3 overall and 19-1 in ACC play, winning the league's regular season title and earning the #1 seed in the ACC Tournament. The Blue Devils also just became the nation's new #1 team in the country per the AP Poll and will likely be a 1-seed in this year's NCAA Tournament.
Despite heavy preseason expectations for the Duke basketball program where the team was ranked #7 in the preseason AP Poll and brought in the #1 ranked recruiting class in the country, Scheyer has somehow exceeded expectations, which really only could've been done if Duke was in the conversation for the best team in the country.
Now, the Blue Devils are seen by many as the favorites to win the national championship, and Duke is the favorite per the sportsbooks as Duke has +320 odds to win the big dance per ESPNBET. The squad with the next highest odds is Auburn at +375.
Although, it's understandable why the committee gave the award to Kelsey as it's fascinating what he's been able to do to turn around what was a devastated Louisville program in one season.
In the two seasons before Kelsey arrived when the Cardinals were under Kenny Payne, the program went 12-52 overall and an abysmal 5-35 in ACC play over that span. It was a pretty depressing time for Cards fans as one of the most storied programs in the history of college basketball was now becoming the joke of the sport.
Then Kelsey entered, completely overhauled the roster, and made Louisville relevant again.
The Cardinals finished the regular season 25-6 overall and 18-2 in conference play, earning the #2 seed in the ACC Tournament and the current #13 spot in the AP Poll. Louisville is a projected 7-seed in the NCAA Tournament per Joe Lunardi, with what would be the first tournament berth for the Cardinals since 2019.
Kelsey is also one of the top candidates for National Coach of the Year, but the job that Scheyer has done for the Blue Devils this season shouldn't go unnoticed.