UCLA Guard Jaylen Clark Wins Naismith Defensive Player Of The Year

The Bruins' top defender has reeled in some additional hardware.

UCLA men’s basketball guard Jaylen Clark has been named the Naismith Men's College Defensive Player of the Year, the organization announced Sunday in Houston. Clark – who was named a finalist on March 14 – beat out Northwestern's Chase Audige, Rutgers' Caleb McConnell and Creighton's Ryan Kalkbrenner for the honor.

No Bruin had won the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year award since it was introduced 2018, nor had any won National Association of Basketball Coaches' Defensive Player of the Year since it was introduced in 1987,

Clark won that award on Tuesday, then he declared for the 2023 NBA Draft the next day. However, Clark clarified on his YouTube channel that he still has his collegiate eligibility since he signed with an NCAA-certified agent.

𝒯𝐻𝐸 𝐵𝐸𝒮𝒯 𝒟𝐸𝐹𝐸𝒩𝒟𝐸𝑅 𝐼𝒩 𝒯𝐻𝐸 𝒞𝒪𝒰𝒩𝒯𝑅𝒴

Jaylen Clark is the 2023 Naismith Men’s College Defensive Player of the Year 🏆 pic.twitter.com/x0toesFTPG
— Naismith Awards (@NaismithTrophy) April 2, 2023

The 6-foot-5 wing was on pace to break UCLA's single-season record for steals before his season ended with an Achilles injury in the regular season finale against Arizona on March 4. Clark underwent season-ending a few days later and missed both the Pac-12 and NCAA tournaments as a result. If the Bruins had him and freshman big Adem Bona at their disposal, they may have advanced past No. 3 seed Gonzaga in the Sweet 16 instead of losing 79-76.

Clark averaged 13.0 points, 6.1 rebounds, 2.6 steals and 0.3 blocks per game in 30 appearances in 2023, while also leading UCLA and the Pac-12 in steals per game, steal percentage, defensive rating, defensive box plus/minus and overall box plus/minus. His 2.6 steals per game were tied fr the most by a power conference player.

With a defensive rating of 85.3, Clark posted the lowest mark of any Bruin since Sports Reference started tracking the stat in the 2009-2010 season. In addition to winning Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year, Clark also made the Pac-12 All-Defensive Team for the second year in a row, as well as the All-Pac-12 Second Team.

Clark reached at least four steals in seven separate games, including the regular season finale. Clark finished with three or more steals in 15 of his last 22 games, and he averaged 2.8 steals per game since Dec. 10.

The Riverside native came up 17 steals shy of Jordan Adams' single-season program steals record, finishing in third just behind Cameron Dollar.

As a team, UCLA ranked second in the nation and first in the Pac-12 in adjusted defensive efficiency, per KenPom.

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