Kalkbrenner Wins Third Straight BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year Award

OMAHA, Neb. -- Creighton's Ryan Kalkbrenner has been named BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year for the third straight season.

Creighton has now had a BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year in five of the past eight seasons.

Kalkbrenner is just the third player in league history to win the recognition more than twice, joining four-time selection Patrick Ewing (1982, 1983, 1984, 1985) and three-time honoree Alonzo Mourning (1989, 1990, 1992).

Kalkbrenner leads the BIG EAST with 3.0 blocked shots per game, which ranks second-most nationally. The Florissant, Mo., native ranks second in CU history with 291 career blocked shots and his 92 rejections this season are tied for third-most in CU history and the best by a Bluejay since 1984-85. Named a Second Team All-BIG EAST choice on Sunday, Kalkbrenner averages 17.1 points and 7.3 rebounds per game and tops the BIG EAST with 65.0 percent shooting from the field. Last Friday he was named one of five finalists for the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award given to the nation's best center.

The league's head coaches choose the award recipients, and are not permitted to vote for their own players.

The BIG EAST will announce the remaining individual awards: Player of the Year, Coach of the Year, Freshman of the Year and Men's Basketball Scholar-Athlete on Wednesday, March 13.

After earning the No. 2 seed in the upcoming BIG EAST Tournament presented by Jeep, Creighton (23-8, 14-6 BIG EAST) will face either Providence or Georgetown on Thursday at 6 p.m. Central on FS1.

Most BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year Honors
   Honors   Name, School   Years (*ties)
   4   Patrick Ewing, Georgetown   1982, 83, 84, 85
   3   Alonzo Mourning, Georgetown   1989, 90*, 92
    3    Ryan Kalkbrenner, Creighton   2022, 23, 24
   2   Dikembe Mutombo, Georgetown   1990, 91
   2   Allen Iverson, Georgetown   1995, 96
   2   Etan Thomas, Syracuse   1999, 00
   2   John Linehan, Providence   2001, 02
   2   Emeka Okafor, Connecticut   2003, 04
   2   Hasheem Thabeet, Connecticut   2008, 09
   2   Kris Dunn, Providence   2015*, 16
   2   Khyri Thomas, Creighton   2017*, 18

BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year
Ryan Kalkbrenner, Creighton

BIG EAST Most Improved Player
Desmond Claude, Xavier

BIG EAST Sixth Man Award
Hassan Diarra, Connecticut

BIG EAST Sportsmanship Award
Steven Ashworth, Creighton

Kalkbrenner Wins Third Straight BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year Award

Players Mentioned

Steven Ashworth

Ryan Kalkbrenner

Ryan Kalkbrenner

Khyri Thomas

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