Florida's Rueben Chinyelu named NABC Defensive Player of the Year
The National Association of Basketball Coaches picked Rueben Chinyelu as its Defensive Player of the Year on Tuesday.
The National Association of Basketball Coaches named Florida center Rueben Chinyelu the Defensive Player of the Year on Tuesday. Chinyelu is the first Florida Gator to win the award, which began in 1987. NABC-member coaches across Division I voted him as the recipient.
The junior big man recorded 36 blocks and helped Florida claim a No. 1 seed for the second year in a row. He has started every game over the past two seasons at Florida, helping the Gators go 63-12 (.
840) overall. Chinyelu has already been named the SEC Defensive Player of the Year, the SEC Scholar Athlete of the Year and is a finalist for the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year . He earned an SEC All-Defensive Team nod and is a member of the SEC Community Service Team.
The Enugwu-Agidi, Nigeria, native set a program record this season with 19 double-doubles, and is the first Gator in 50 years to average double-digit rebounds. His 137 offensive rebounds are a program record, and his 393 total rebounds rank second all-time behind Neal Walk. Chinyelu is the only Gator since 2000 to record a 20-plus-rebound game, and he did it three times.