OMAHA, Neb. -- Creighton center Ryan Kalkbrenner is one of 10 semifinalists for the Naismith Men's Defensive Player of the Year Award, the Atlanta Tipoff Club announced on Wednesday.
Kalkbrenner leads the BIG EAST and is second nationally with 2.97 blocked shots per game. In league play Kalkbrenner paces the conference with an even better 3.4 blocked shots per game, and his 67 swats were the most in BIG EAST action since 2009-10. Kalkbrenner also ranks sixth in the country in field goal percentage (.650), and was the first player to lead the BIG EAST in conference play in that category in back-to-back years since UConn's Emeka Okafor in 2003 and 2004.