Gonzaga's Chet Holmgren finalist for Naismith Defensive Player of the Year
In the WCC semifinal game against San Francisco, Holmgren led the game with six blocks.
Gonzaga’s Chet Holmgren has advanced to the list of four finalists for the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Award. The Atlanta Tipoff Club has boiled the list down from the 10 semifinalists announced at the beginning of March to the final four making the cut for award voting.
The other candidates for the award are Auburn’s Walker Kessler, Oscar Tshiebwe from Duke and Duke center Mark Williams. All four players are forwards or centers, and the Atlanta Tipoff Club has Holmgren listed as a center on the award ballot although the 7-foot freshman is a nominee for the Karl Malone Power Forward of the Year Award as well.
Holmgren is this season’s defensive player of the year and freshman of the year in the West Coast Conference. He averaged 3.7 blocks a game this season, tied for a WCC record, which totals 104 blocks this season, the fourth most in the country.
The only defensive player of the year finalist which ranks ahead of Holmgren in rejections at the rim is Kessler, the nation’s second leading shot blocker with 144 total this year and 4.5 a game. Kessler also averages 7.8 rebounds per outing, whereas Holmgren averages 7.93 strictly on the defensive end, the eighth most in all NCAA.
Both candidates, however, hail in comparison to Tshiebwe’s rebounding ability as someone who has 499 total rebounds this season and averages the second most defensive rebounds in the country with 9.88.
Holmgren has become an integral part of a GU defense this season that ranks seventh nationally in adjusted defensive rating according to KenPom. When the freshman from Minnesota is on the court, opposing teams shoot around 10% worse against the Zags.
Williams, a sophomore from Virginia, was the Atlantic Coast Conference leader in blocks this season with 2.8 a game and his 7-foot-7 wingspan has allowed Williams to get a season-high eight blocks in a win against N.C. State earlier this season.
The Atlanta Tipoff Club voting committee will decide on a winner who will be announced during Final Four weekend.
