NEW ORLEANS – Auburn sophomore center Walker Kessler (Newnan, Ga.) has been selected as the Naismith Men's Defensive Player of the Year in an awards ceremony held on Sunday as part of NCAA Men's Final Four festivities in the Big Easy.
The award is given to the most outstanding defensive player in men's and women's college basketball. It has been awarded by the Atlanta Tipoff Club since 2018. It is named in honor of James Naismith, who invented the game of basketball.
Kessler becomes the first Auburn men's basketball player and only the third Atlanta Tipoff Club 'Mr. Georgia Basketball' to win a Naismith Award. He joins Donnell Harvey (1999) and Dwight Howard (2004), both of whom won the Jersey Mike's Naismith Trophy for Boys High School Player of the Year.
Named SEC and NABC Defensive Player of the Year, and to the All-SEC Defensive Team, the 7-foot-1 big man averaged 11.4 points, 8.1 rebounds and 1.1 steals per game this past season. He also ranked No. 1 in the SEC and No. 2 nationally in blocked shots per game (4.6 avg.) and helped lead the Tigers to their first-ever No. 1 ranking in the national polls for three-consecutive weeks and SEC regular-season championship title.
An All-SEC First Team and All-America third team selection by The Associated Press and NABC, his 155 blocks on the season are the most in Division I and a program single-season record.
Kessler currently leads the nation in triple-doubles with two, including 15 games with five-or-more blocked shots. He joined Aliyah Boston of South Carolina as 2022 Naismith Defensive Player of the Year, securing an SEC men's and women's sweep for the honor.
NAISMITH MEN'S DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR AWARD WINNERS
2018 – Jevon Carter, West Virginia
2019 – Matisse Thybulle, Washington
2020 – Marcus Garrett, Kansas
2021 – Davion Mitchell, Baylor
2022 – Walker Kessler, Auburn