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Two B1G head basketball coaches named to Naismith Coach of the Year Watch List
Published:
Two B1G head coaches have named to the Naismith Coach of the Year Watch List. A total of 15 candidates were included in the late-season release.
Illinois’ Brad Underwood and Wisconsin’s Greg Gard are the two names from the B1G to make the watch list. Both head coaches have their teams firmly in the race for a B1G regular season title with only a few weeks remaining.
Both the Fighting Illini and Badgers lost significant pieces from last year’s successful squads. For them to have a shot at a conference championship this season is incredibly impressive.
Illinois and Wisconsin are both 11-4 heading into the weekend. They are .5 game behind Purdue for first place, as the Boilermakers are sitting at 12-4.
Here are the remaining schedules for both Illinois and Wisconsin:
Illinois Fighting Illini
Feb. 19: at #19 Michigan State
Feb. 24: #18 Ohio State
Feb. 27: at Michigan
March 3: Penn State
March 6: Iowa
Wisconsin Badgers
Feb. 20: Michigan
Feb. 23: at Minnesota
Feb. 26: at Rutgers
March 1: #5 Purdue
March 6: Nebraska
Here’s a look at all 15 coaches who were named to the watch list:
Tommy Lloyd, Arizona
Bruce Pearl, Auburn
Scott Drew, Baylor
Bob McKillop, Davidson
Mark Few, Gonzaga
Kelvin Sampson, Houston
Brad Underwood, Illinois
John Calipari, Kentucky
Shaka Smart, Marquette
Matt McMahon, Murray State
Ed Cooley, Providence
Mark Adams, Texas Tech
Steve Forbes, Wake Forest
Greg Gard, Wiscosnin
Jeff Linder, Wyoming
Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB