I think you could make a very solid case for at least 4 coaches, including all of Tobacco Road. Unbeaten in the league is worthy of consideration, regardless of whether it’s a down year in the ACC. So, Coach K is in the mix. Herb Sendek lost his best player and is producing the best results of his coaching tenure, managing to stay within striking distance of Duke – at 13 or 14 wins, he’d arguably be the strongest candidate, regardless of how the other guys finish. Roy Williams had ACC foes licking their chops at facing a very depleted UNC squad that lost their TOP SEVEN players from a national title squad that wasn’t known for having a deep, productive bench (and with the stellar recruiting class still a year away). But said chop-licking was premature, and Roy has a scrappy team (admit it, they would be extremely likeable if they weren’t wearing the powder blue) in secure position for an NCAA berth.
But I would still give the SLIGHT edge to Dave Leitao at this point. He’s taken a team expected to win 1 or 2 ACC games all year, and led them to a 5-5 mark (with Sean Singletary and a bunch of anonymous guys who just play hard). Basically, he’s to this season what Seth Greenberg was to last – but maybe even a notch more impressive. If he gets to 8 wins, I think he has to be the choice. Plus, in reality, he can monopolize the “Alaska” vote, while the NC sportswriters will split theirs up.
What does everyone else think?
