LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- In his first season at Louisville, it's fair to say that men's basketball coach Chris Mack already has exceeded expectations. Women's coach Jeff Walz is busy trying to live up to high expectations he has created, coming off his third Final Four appearance.
On Wednesday, both were honored among 15 men's and women's candidates for the Werner Ladder Naismith Coach of the Year award, presented annually to the coach voted the most outstanding in the nation by the Atlanta Tipoff Club.
No Louisville coach has ever won the award. Louisville is one of three schools to have both its men's and women's coach among the finalists. Gonzaga (Mark Few and Lisa Fortier) and Marquette (Steve Wojiechowski and Carolyn Kieger) are the others.
Mack has led the Cardinals to an 18-10 record while facing a schedule rated the nation's third toughest. His team recently dropped out of the AP Top 25 but remains ranked No. 24 in the USA Today poll.
The Cardinals have wins over four AP Top 25 teams and are among the top 31 teams nationally in offensive and defensive efficiency. They were picked to finish 11th in the ACC in a preseason poll of coaches.
Mack also has attracted a recruiting class ranked in the top five nationally after taking over the troubled Louisville program, which failed to reach the NCAA Tournament last season after the firing of longtime coach Rick Pitino.
Walz took the Cardinals to the Final Four last season and after losing senior Myisha Hines-Allen, has led them to a 25-2 record this season. His team was ranked as high as No. 2 nationally after knocking off Connecticut on Jan. 31. With two more wins, they would clinch a share of their second straight ACC regular-season title.
Walz is the winningest coach in U of L women's basketball history, having recorded his 300th career win earlier this season at Western Kentucky.
Other men's finalists are Tony Bennett (Virginia), Mike Krzyzewski (Duke), Roy Williams (North Carolina), Rick Barnes (Tennessee), Chris Beard (Texas Tech), John Beilein (Michigan), Few, Tom Izzo (Michigan State), Eric Musselman (Nevada), Nate Oats (Buffalo), Matt Painter (Purdue), Kelvin Sampson (Houston), Mike Young (Wofford) and Wojciechowski.
On the women's side, the other finalists: Fortier, Kieger, Amanda Butler (Clemson), Kelly Graves (Oregon), Muffet McGraw (Notre Dame), Katie Meier (Miami), Wes Moore (North Carolina State), Kim Mulkey (Baylor), Lynne Roberts (Utah), Scott Rueck (Oregon State), Vic Schaefer (Mississippi State), Tara Vanderveer (Stanford).
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