Ryan Kalkbrenner becomes a two-time BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year

OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) - It’s an elite group, players who have earned multiple BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year awards. The group includes Patrick Ewing, Alonzo Mourning, Dikembe Mutombo, Allen Iverson and more. The Bluejays center leads the conference with 2.2 blocks per game, that’s also 18th nationally. He anchors a defensive unit that led the BIG EAST during conference play in scoring defense, scoring margin and field goal percentage defense. At one point during the season he also had a 25-game streak with at least one block.

Khyri Thomas is the last Creighton player to earn the award in multiple years. The list below includes all 11 players who have done it more than once.

Most BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year Honors     Honors    Name, School    Years (*ties)     

4    Patrick Ewing, Georgetown    1982, 83, 84, 85     

3    Alonzo Mourning, Georgetown    1989, 90*, 92     

2    Dikembe Mutombo, Georgetown    1990, 91     

2    Allen Iverson, Georgetown    1995, 96     

2    Etan Thomas, Syracuse    1999, 00     

2    John Linehan, Providence    2001, 02   

 2    Emeka Okafor, Connecticut    2003, 04     

2    Hasheem Thabeet, Connecticut    2008, 09   

 2    Kris Dunn, Providence    2015*, 16     

2 Khyri Thomas, Creighton    2017*, 18     

2    Ryan Kalkbrenner, Creighton    2022, 23

Copyright 2023 WOWT. All rights reserved.