Calipari is one of 25 coaches on the list that was announced Friday. He previously won the award in 2009 in his final season at Memphis.
The Jim Phelan award is presented annually to the top coach in division I men's basketball. Phelan led the Mountaineers to the 1962 NCAA Men's Division II Basketball Championship. When he retired in 2003, after coaching for 49 years, he had amassed 830 wins (overall record of 830-524) in all divisions. In those 49 years, 19 of his teams amassed 20 or more wins in a season.
The recipient of the 2019 Jim Phelan award will be announced on April 5 at the College Insider Awards Event in Minneapolis, site of the 2019 Final Four.
Earlier this week Calipari was named a semifinalist for the Naismith National Coach of the Year. He's looking to become the first four-time winner of that award. He previously won the Naismith award in 1989, 1992 and 1999).
Calipari's work in 2018-19 has certainly been one of his finest.
With Calipari at the helm, Kentucky completed a 26-5 regular season Saturday and earned a No. 2 seed in the annual Southeastern Conference Tournament, just a game behind LSU for the SEC regular-season championship.
UK has positioned itself for a possible No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament with a No. 5 ranking in the NCAA Evaluation Tool, a 5-3 record vs. Associated Press Top 25 teams and a 10-4 mark vs. quadrant one teams, including five of those away from home.
Calipari has once again proved to be a master of blending talented but young pieces together in a short period of time. With just two significant returners from last season's Sweet 16 team in PJ Washington and Nick Richards and one of the most inexperienced lineups in the country – KenPom.com rates UK 351st out of 353 teams in its experience rankings – the Wildcats have won 16 of their last 18 games and positioned themselves as national title contenders.
Washington has emerged as an All-American player, Kentucky's freshman class has proven to be one of the best in the country, and UK overcame early-season adversity and a late-season injury to graduate transfer Reid Travis for Calipari's sixth straight 25-win season.
Calipari has strung together 25 straight seasons of 20 or more on-court wins, the longest active streak in the country. Three of UK's five losses this season have been by a combined five points, and UK's strength of schedule ranks No. 16 in the country.
