OMAHA, Neb. — Creighton center Ryan Kalkbrenner is one of 15 men on the Watch List for this year’s Naismith Trophy Men’s Defensive Player of the Year award, the Atlanta Tipoff Club announced on Thursday.
Kalkbrenner leads the BIG EAST with 2.24 blocked shots per game, which also ranks 20th nationally. In league play Kalkbrenner paces the conference with 3.00 blocked shots per game.
Last season the Florissant, Mo., native became Creighton’s third BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year in six seasons following a vote of league coaches.
Kalkbrenner has also been named to the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year Watch List, the USBWA Oscar Robertson Midseason Watch List, the Wooden Award Preseason Watch List and Preseason Jersey Mike’s Naismith Award Watch List during his junior campaign.
Last year the 10 semifinalists for the award were named on March 1st, with the list being trimmed to four finalists on March 16. Auburn’s Walker Kessler was announced as the winner on April 3rd at the Final Four. Other past winners include Baylor’s Davion Mitchell (2020-21), Kansas’ Marcus Garrett (2019-20), Washington’s Matisse Thybulle (2018-19) and West Virginia’s Jevon Carter (2017-18).
Winners of three straight, Creighton (12-8, 6-3 BIG EAST) hosts No. 13 Xavier (17-4, 9-1 BIG EAST) on Saturday at 11:15 a.m. in its annual Creighton vs. Cancer Pink Out game. The contest will be broadcast on CBS.
| Chase Audige | Senior | G | Northwestern |
| Leaky Black | Grad Student | F | North Carolina |
| Moussa Cisse | Junior | F | Oklahoma State |
| Jaylen Clark | Junior | G | UCLA |
| Zach Edey | Junior | C | Purdue |
| Andre Jackson Jr. | Junior | G | UConn |
| Trayce Jackson-Davis | Senior | F | Indiana |
| Ryan Kalkbrenner | Junior | C | Creighton |
| Caleb McConnell | Fifth Year | G | Rutgers |
| Kevin McCullar Jr. | Senior | G | Kansas |
| Shakeel Moore | Junior | G | Mississippi State |
| Marcus Sasser | Senior | G | Houston |
| Jamarion Sharp | Junior | C | Western Kentucky |
| Oscar Tschiebwe | Senior | F | Kentucky |
| Zakai Seigler | Sophomore | G | Tennessee |
