THE LEFTY DRIESELL AWARD

The recipient of the 2023 Lefty Driesell National Defensive Player of the Year award will be announced in Houston, site of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship.

March 9, 2023

THE AWARD FINALISTS

BOSTON, MA -- The finalists for the 2022-23 Lefty Driesell National Defensive Player of the Year award were announced on Thursday.

The Lefty Driesell Award, given annually to the top defensive player in Division I basketball, is named in honor of the legendary former coach.

Driesell won 786 games in 41 years at Davidson, Maryland, James Madison and Georgia State. He ranks eighth on the NCAA career Division I coaches victories list and his teams at each stop were known for playing tenacious defense. From 1969-1986 at Maryland, his teams posted a 348-159 record, won two Atlantic Coast Conference regular season titles and one tournament title.

Driesell also led Davidson, Georgia State and James Madison to the NCAA tournament, making him one of three coaches to reach the NCAAs with four different programs. His teams won a total of 16 regular season championships and six tournament championships.

The recipient of the 2023 award will be announced in March, in Houston site of the men's NCAA Basketball Championship.


2022-23 LEFTY DRIESELL AWARD FINALISTS

Chase Audige

6-4

Northwestern

Ace Baldwin, Jr.

6-1

VCU

Aziz Bandaogo

7-0

Utah Valley

Reece Beekman

6-3

Virginia

Leaky Black

6-9

North Carolina

Moussa Cisse

7-1

Oklahoma State

Jaylen Clark

6-5

UCLA

Zach Edey

7-4

Purdue

Dajuan Harris Jr.

6-1

Kansas

D'Moi Hodge

6-4

Missouri

Trayce Jackson-Davis

6-9

Indiana

Malique Jacobs

6-3

Kent State

Ryan Kalkbrenner

7-1

Creighton

Malevy Leons

6-9

Bradley

Dereck Lively II

7-1

Duke

Javion May

6-2

Sam Houston

Caleb McConnell

6-7

Rutgers

Liam Robbins

7-0

Vanderbilt

Marcus Sasser

6-2

Houston

Jamarion Sharp

7-5

Western Kentucky

Jamal Shead

6-1

Houston

Kellen Tynes

6-3

Maine

Connor Vanover

7-5

Oral Roberts

Amari Williams

6-10

Drexel

Zakai Zeigler

5-9

Tennessee

 

The Lefty Driesell Award, given annually to the top defensive player in Division I basketball, is named in honor of the legendary former coach. 
 
Driesell won 786 games in 41 years at Davidson, Maryland, James Madison and Georgia State. He ranks eighth on the NCAA career Division I coaches victories list and his teams at each stop were known for playing tenacious defense. From 1969-1986 at Maryland, his teams posted a 348-159 record, won two Atlantic Coast Conference regular season titles and one tournament title.
 
Driesell also led Davidson, Georgia State and James Madison to the NCAA tournament, making him one of three coaches to reach the NCAAs with four different programs. His teams won a total of 16 regular season championships and six tournament championships.
 
The recipient of the 2023 award will be announced in March, in Houston site of the men's NCAA Basketball Championship.
 
 

The Lefty Driesell award committee is a 15 member panel, consisting of five current division I head coaches, five members of the national media and five collegeinsider.com staff members. Former Maryland head coach Lefty Driesell is the chairman of the awards committee. 
 
RULES AND CRITERIA
 
The Lefty Driesell award is presented annually to the top defensive player in division I college basketball, as voted on by the award committee. 
 
SCHEDULE OF RELEASES
 
March: Lefty Driesell Defensive All-America Team announced
March 30: Lefty Driesell Defensive Player of the Year announced
 
AWARD PRESENTATION
 
The recipients of the 17 national awards, presented by CollegeInsider.com, are announced annually at the site of the NCAA men’s division I basketball championship.
 
The 2018 CollegeInsider.com Awards Banquet will take place on March 30 in San Antonio, TX. 
 
 

Champign Image
Champign Image
Champign Image