PISCATAWAY. N.J. – Rutgers men's basketball's senior guard
Caleb McConnell has been named the 2022 Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year.
Coaches from across the conference voted for the award and selected the Jacksonville, Florida native as the best defensive player in the conference.
"In my 30-plus years of coaching, I have coached a lot of great defenders and I can truly say
Caleb McConnell is a one-of-a-kind defensive player, who can guard all five spots," head coach
Steve Pikiell said. "I want to congratulate Caleb on this prestigious award. I truly believe he is not only the best defender in the Big Ten Conference, but the best defender in the country."
McConnell was also recognized as a member of the All-Big Ten Defensive Team as selected by the coaches. The team is comprised of Trent Frazier of Illinois, Trayce Jackson-Davis of Indiana, E.J. Liddell of Ohio State, Eric Hunter Jr. of Purdue and McConnell.
McConnell is having a stellar season on defense leading the conference with 67 steals and 2.23 steals-per-game. His steals total has him tied for seventh in the nation. McConnell also leads the Big Ten Conference with 43 steals and 2.15 steals-per-game in conference play. His six steals in the win over Wisconsin were the most that an individual Big Ten player had in a game all season.
Rutgers has never had a Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year in the school's history. The last Scarlet Knight to win the award was Hamady Ndiaye in 2009-10, when the school participated in the Big East Conference.
McConnell had a legendary streak of four games of over four+ steals to key wins over No. 13 Michigan State (four) and No. 16 Ohio State (four), No. 13 Wisconsin (six) and No. 12 Illinois (four).
His 21 steals over a five-game stretch tied him for second most in the Big Ten since 2002-03.
His unforgettable chase-down block to deny a breakaway layup against OSU sparked a 10-0 run for the team to close the game with a victory. He tied a career-high with six steals twice this season against Wisconsin and UMass.
McConnell was selected as a semifinalist for the 2022 Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Award last week. 10 players were announced as semifinalists for the award by the
Atlanta Club Tipoff on Tuesday. The winner of that award will be announced on April 3rd.
