Jaylen Clark, who played a leading role in helping UCLA win the Pac-12 regular-season title, has won the Naismith defensive player of the year award.
junior guard on Sunday was honored as the school’s first Naismith defensive player of the year, widely considered the nation’s top defensive award among college players. Clark ranked fourth in the nation with 2.6 steals per game before suffering a season-endingagainst Arizona on March 4, preventing him from participating in the Pac-12 and NCAA tournaments.
At an awards brunch in Houston, Clark recalled going from a lightly recruited high school prospect to being told bythat he would have to play center as a 6-foot-5 freshman if he wanted more playing time. Clark’s nine rebounds in 18 minutes off the bench against Alabama in a NCAA tournament regional semifinal helped the Bruins upset the second-seeded Crimson Tide.
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