Duke head coach Jon Scheyer had quite the shoes to fill following the departure of iconic HC Mike Krzyzewski. And under pressure, Scheyer has performed well, leading the Blue Devils to a NCAA Tournament berth and a 4-seed in the ACC Tournament.

On Tuesday, Scheyer was named to the 10-person Joe B. Hall Award finalist list, an award given annually to the top 1st-year head coach in college basketball. Scheyer is one of only 2 Power 6 coaches to be named a finalist.

Does Scheyer have a shot?

Simply put, yes.

It’s likely to be a race between Scheyer, Kansas State’s Jerome Tang and Fairleigh Dickinson’s Tobin Anderson. Tang led Kansas State to a 23-8 record in an uber-difficult Big 12.

Anderson, on the other hand, added 15 wins for the Knights from last season to this season, as well as a trip to the NCAA Tournament. Fairleigh Dickinson has a chance to win the NEC Tuesday night against Merrick. Since Merrimack is ineligible for the tournament, the Knights will earn a bid regardless of Tuesday’s results.

Scheyer’s Duke team took a step back from last season to this season, by comparison. But the fact that he was taking over for perhaps the greatest college basketball coach in history automatically makes him a true candidate to win the award.

The award will be presented in Houston later this month at the Final Four.