CHAPEL HILL, NORTH CAROLINA - FEBRUARY 11: Head coach Roy Williams of the North Carolina Tar Heels reacts to a call by the officials during the second half of their game against the Virginia Cavaliers at the Dean Smith Center on February 11, 2019 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Virginia won 69-61. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images)

UNC Basketball head coach Roy Williams was named a finalist for the Coach of the Year award early Wednesday afternoon by the Naismith Award

With the calendar flipping to March, Roy Williams has his North Carolina Tar Heels playing the best basketball of their season to date. The Tar Heels have won 11 of their last 12 games, including beating then No. 1 Duke on the road in Durham and then beating a ranked Florida State team at home.

UNC officially clinched a double-bye in the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament with a win over Syracuse on Tuesday night, using a big second half to earn the win.

Williams has done a fantastic job with the Tar Heels program this season and now they are considered a legit contender to win it all. For that, he’s being recognized as a finalist for Coach of the Year.

The Naismith Award announced the 15 finalists for its Coach of the Year award on Wednesday afternoon and Williams was one of those 15 coaches to make the cut.

Williams was one of four ACC coaches to make the list, joining Virginia’s Tony Bennett, Duke’s Mike Krzyewski and Louisville’s Chris Mack on the list. UNC and Virginia are tied atop the ACC standings with Duke just one game behind them.

The rest of the conferences represented are as follows: Big Ten (3), SEC (1), Big East (1), Big 12 (1), MAC (1), AAC (1), Mountain West (1) and Southern Conference (1). To see the full list of nominees, please visit here.

The winner of the Naismith Coach of the Year will be announced at the end of season college basketball awards along with several others.

If Williams can keep UNC playing at a high level for the remainder of the season, he’s got a legit shot at winning it especially if they can make another Final Four run.

For more on the UNC Basketball program, please check back with Keeping It Heel.