Kalkbrenner Adds To Awards Haul With USBWA All-District Team Plaudits

OMAHA, Neb. -- Creighton center Ryan Kalkbrenner picked up his third honor of the day as the junior big man was named as an All-District VI pick by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association. Within the past five hours, Kalkbrenner had also been named All-District by the National Association of Basketball Coaches as well as one of four finalists for Naismith National Defensive Player of the Year by the Atlanta Tip-Off Club.

Kalkbrenner leads the BIG EAST with 2.2 blocked shots per game, which ranks 18th nationally. The Florissant, Mo., native ranks second in CU history with 192 career blocked shots and anchors a Bluejay defense that led the league during conference play in scoring defense, scoring margin and field goal percentage defense. Kalkbrenner is also second on the team with 6.2 rebounds per game.

Offensively, Kalkbrenner leads the nation in field goal percentage (.714), which ranks seventh-best in NCAA single-season history (min. 5 FG/game), while his career field goal percentage of 67.3 percent is fifth-best all-time among players with at least 400 career field goals who make four or more shots per game.

Earlier this month Kalkbrenner was named 2023 BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year for the second straight season, becoming just the 11th player in league history to win the recognition more than once. He's also one of five players up for the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar award given to the nation's best center and one of 25 men in the running for the Lefty Driesell Award given to the nation's best defensive player. He was also recognized as the nation's top defender by Field of 68, in addition to today's NABC All-District 5 First Team and Naismith Defensive Player of the Year finalist plaudits.

Creighton (21-12) returns to the court on Friday when the Bluejays face NC State (23-10) in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament in Denver, Colo.

Following are the complete 2022-23 USBWA All-District honors:

DISTRICT I
Maine, Vt., N.H., R.I., Mass., Conn.
Player of the Year: Adama Sanogo, UConn
Coach of the Year: Ed Cooley, Providence

All-District Team
Devin Carter, Providence
Sherif Gross-Bullock, Bryant
Jordan Hawkins, UConn
Bryce Hopkins, Providence
Chris Ledlum, Harvard
Kino Lilly Jr., Brown
Jordan Minor, Merrimack
Dylan Penn, Vermont
Quinten Post, Boston College
Adama Sanogo, UConn

DISTRICT II
N.Y., N.J., Del., D.C., Pa., W. Va.
Player of the Year: Jalen Pickett, Penn State
Coach of the Year: Jeff Capel, Pitt

All-District Team
Walter Clayton Jr., Iona
Jordan Dingle, Penn
Eric Dixon, Villanova
Aaron Estrada, Hofstra
Taevion Kinsey, Marshall
Jameer Nelson Jr., Delaware
Cliff Omoruyi, Rutgers
Jalen Pickett, Penn State
Joel Soriano, St. John's
Erik Stevenson, West Virginia

DISTRICT III
Va., N.C., S.C., Md.
Player of the Year: Tyree Appleby, Wake Forest
Coach of the Year: Pat Kelsey, College of Charleston

All-District Team
Tyree Appleby, Wake Forest
Armando Bacot, North Carolina
Reece Beekman, Virginia
Kyle Filipowski, Duke
Jarkel Joiner, NC State
Darius McGhee, Liberty
Hunter Tyson, Clemson
Drew Pember, UNC Asheville
Terquavion Smith, NC State
Jahmir Young, Maryland

DISTRICT IV
Ky., Tenn., Miss., Ala., Ga., Fla.
Player of the Year: Brandon Miller, Alabama
Coach of the Year: Dusty May, Florida Atlantic

All-District Team
Johni Broome, Auburn
Colin Castleton, Florida
Kendric Davis, Memphis
Brandon Miller, Alabama
Liam Robbins, Vanderbilt
Tolu Smith, Mississippi State
Oscar Tshiebwe, Kentucky
Santiago Vescovi, Tennessee
Isaiah Wong, Miami
Zakai Zeigler, Tennessee

DISTRICT V
Ohio, Ind., Ill., Mich., Minn., Wis.
Player of the Year: Zach Edey, Purdue
Coach of the Year: Matt Painter, Purdue

All-District Team
Souley Boum, Xavier
Boo Buie, Northwestern
Antoine Davis, Detroit Mercy
Zach Edey, Purdue
Hunter Dickinson, Michigan
Jalen Hood-Schifino, Indiana
Trayce Jackson-Davis, Indiana
Tyler Kolek, Marquette
Terrence Shannon Jr., Illinois
Tyson Walker, Michigan State

DISTRICT VI
Iowa, Mo., Kan., Okla., Neb., N.D., S.D.
Player of the Year: Jalen Wilson, Kansas
Coach of the Year: Jerome Tang, Kansas State

All-District Team
Max Abmas, Oral Roberts
Kobe Brown, Missouri
Tucker DeVries, Drake
Gradey Dick, Kansas
Keyontae Johnson, Kansas State
Ryan Kalkbrenner, Creighton
Kris Murray, Iowa
Grant Nelson, North Dakota State
Markquis Newell, Kansas State
Jalen Wilson, Kansas

DISTRICT VII
Texas, Ark., La.
Player of the Year: Marcus Sasser, Houston
Coach of the Year: Kelvin Sampson, Houston

All-District Team
Marcus Carr, Texas
Ricky Council IV, Arkansas
L.J. Cryer, Baylor
Adam Flagler, Baylor
Keyonte George, Baylor
Mike Miles, TCU
Quincy Olivari, Rice
Marcus Sasser, Houston
Jamaal Shead, Houston
Wade Taylor IV, Texas A&M

DISTRICT VIII
Wyo., Utah, Idaho, N.M., Colo., Nev., Mont.
Player of the Year: Steven Ashworth, Utah State
Coach of the Year: Mark Madsen, Utah Valley

All-District Team
Steven Ashworth, Utah State
Aziz Bandaogo, Utah Valley
RaeQuan Battle, Montana State
Le'Tre Darthard, Utah Valley
E.J. Harkless, UNLV
Taylor Funk, Utah State
Jaelen House, New Mexico
Dillon Jones, Weber State
Dalton Knecht, Northern Colorado
Jamal Mashburn Jr., New Mexico

DISTRICT IX
Calif., Ore., Wash., Hawaii, Ariz., Alaska
Player of the Year: Jaime Jaquez Jr., UCLA
Coach of the Year: Randy Bennett, St. Mary's

All-District Team
Tyger Campbell, UCLA
Boogie Ellis, USC
Jaime Jaquez Jr., UCLA
Logan Johnson, Saint Mary's
Aidan Mahaney, Saint Mary's
Brandin Podziemski, Santa Clara
Cam Shelton, Loyola Marymount
Julian Strawther, Gonzaga
Drew Timme, Gonzaga
Azuolas Tubelis, Arizona

Kalkbrenner Adds To Awards Haul With USBWA All-District Team Plaudits

Players Mentioned

Ryan Kalkbrenner

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