The season may not have ended the way Jaylen Clark wanted, but a year cut short by a lower right leg injury was still recognized nationally.
The UCLA junior guard was named the Naismith men’s defensive player of the year by the Atlanta Tipoff Club during a ceremony Sunday in Houston.
Clark won the honor over fellow finalists Chase Audige (Northwestern), Caleb McConnell (Rutgers) and Ryan Kalkbrenner (Creighton).
He is the first UCLA player to win the award since its inception six years ago.
“Unfortunate the way my season ended, but very proud of myself. I’m thankful for my family, everybody around me and just happy I was able to make this accomplishment,” Clark said after receiving the honor.
The award is the third such individual honor for Clark, who was also named the National Association of Basketball Coaches’ top defender and won the Pac-12 Conference defensive player of the year.
Clark, who led the conference and is tied for fourth in the country with 2.6 steals per game, was named to the Pac-12 all-defensive team for a second consecutive season and earned an all-conference second team nod.
The 6-foot-5 guard collected two or more steals in 23 of 30 games played, had four on seven separate occasions and made a career-high seven in the season opener against Sacramento State.
His play helped the Bruins to the nation’s second-best KenPom adjusted defense rating and a Pac-12-best 60.7 points allowed per game.
Clark’s 78 total steals are tied for third with Darren Collison (2006-07) on the program’s single-season list.
He helped the Bruins capture the Pac-12 regular-season title for the first time since the 2012-13 season.
However, in the regular-season finale March 4, Clark injured his Achilles’ early in the second half and missed both the Pac-12 and NCAA tournament.
Despite the injury, Clark announced last Wednesday that he will enter the NBA draft.
After collecting the award, Clark told Andy Katz of NCAA.com that his agent is NCAA certified and left open the idea of returning to UCLA. Clark added that the timetable for rehabilitation is 8 to 10 months.
The early-entry withdrawal deadline to retain collegiate eligibility is May 31.
