Tommy Lloyd is a finalist for a major national Head Coach of the Year award

Tommy Lloyd has been named a finalist for the 2026 Werner Ladder Naismith Men’s College Coach of the Year Award, with Fred Hoiberg from Nebraska, Dusty May from Michigan and Jon Scheyer from Duke. Nebraska was eliminated from the NCAA Tournament by Iowa on Thursday night.

Duke plays St. John's in the NCAA Tournament East Regional and Michigan plays Alabama in the Midwest Regional in Chicago on Friday night. Arizona qualified for the NCAA Tournament West Regional Final with a 109-88 win over Arkansas on Thursday night.

Lloyd has led Arizona to a 34-3 record entering the West Regional Final against Purdue on Saturday. Arizona is one win away from the program record set in 1988 when the Wildcats qualified for the Final Four for the first time. The Wildcats swept the Big XII regular season and tournament titles in 2025-26.

Hoiberg led Nebraska to its best season in program history. Nebraska started the season with 20 consecutive wins, finished with a program record 28 victories, won its first NCAA Tournament game and added a second by advancing to the Regional Semifinals for the inaugural time.

Tommy Lloyd's biggest competion

Michigan is one win away from setting the program record with 34 wins in a season. The 2017-18 Wolverines won 33 games before losing to Villanova in the National Championship Game. May is 60-113 in two seasons with Michigan and 33-3 entering its Midwest Regional Semifinal versus Alabama on Friday night.

Scheyer is a year behind Lloyd, on pace to break his record for the most wins for a head coach in their first five seasons. In four seasons at Duke, Scheyer has 123 wins and 24 losses. Duke is 34-2 in 2025-26, entering its East Regional Semifinal game on Friday night against St. John's.

All four coaches have good cases to win the 2026 Werner Ladder Naismith Men’s College Coach of the Year Award. Nebraska was unranked in the preseason Associated Press Top 25 and was 14th in the Big 10 Rankings. Duke was sixth, Michigan seventh and Arizona 13th in the preseason AP Top 25.

Fans can vote for various Naismith season-long awards through April 11. Lloyd, May and Scheyer all have opportunities to add to their season-long resumes. Arizona will play Purdue in the West Regional Final on Saturday. Duke and Michigan would advance to their regional finals with wins on Friday night.