ATLANTA – Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl has been selected as a semifinalist for the Werner Ladder Naismith Men's College Coach of the Year, the Atlanta Tipoff Club announced Friday.
It is second time in the last three seasons that Pearl has been named a semifinalist for the national coach of the year award.
After losing the top three scorers and five of the top eight from a team that went to the Final Four last season, Pearl has Auburn near the top of the SEC once again. The Tigers are two games ahead of where they finished a season ago. Last year, Auburn ended the regular season at 22-9.
The Tigers have achieved their third consecutive 20-win season, something that has only happened once in program history: 1983-86.
Auburn's 2020 senior class has become the winningest class in program history with 98 wins in their time on The Plains.
Pearl is one of 10 coaches in contention for the annual award and is joined by John Calipari of Kentucky as the only coaches represented from the Southeastern Conference.
Pearl is accompanied by Patrick Chambers (Penn State), Scott Drew (Baylor), Brian Dutcher (San Diego State), Mark Few (Gonzaga), Anthony Grant (Dayton), Leonard Hamilton (Florida State), Greg McDermott (Creighton), Mark Pope (BYU) and the aforementioned Calipari.
Using this list of 10, the Naismith Awards master voting academy will identify the four finalists, to be announced on March 18.
Fans will be able to support their favorite coach by visiting naismithtrophy.com/vote between March 20-April 1, to cast their ballot, and the fan vote will account for five percent of the overall final vote.
The 2020 Werner Ladder Naismith Trophy for Men's College Coach of the Year will be announced on April 5.
For more information, visit www.naismithtrophy.com.