THE LEFTY DRIESELL AWARD

Seth Greenberg hosted the 2012 CollegeInsider.com Awards Banquet in New Orleans. Among the honorees were Mike Brey (Notre Dame), Anthony Davis (Kentucky) and Doug McDermott (Creighton).


MARCH 30, 2012

ANTHONY DAVIS WINS THE LEFTY DRIESELL AWARD

NEW ORLEANS, LA -- Kentucky's Anthony Davis is the recipient of the 2012 Lefty Driesell Defensive Player of the Year award.

Davis finished with 186 blocks which is the most in the history of the SEC. He's also been the driving force in that statistical category in helping the Wildcats break the NCAA all-time mark with a running total of 333 for the season. He also set the all-time NCAA mark for freshmen.

"Anthony Davis had one of the more memorable freshmen seasons in history," said Angela Lento, co-founder of CollegeInsider.com. "He is one of those rare players that can dominate the game without scoring. He's a special talent."

Davis owns freshman records for blocks and rebounds by a Kentucky first-year player. He's posted 399 total rebounds surpassing DeMarcus Cousins' record set back in the 2009-10 season. Davis has tied the UK freshman record for double-doubles (20) set by Cousins during the same season. He also led Kentucky with 10.4 rebounds per game.

The award is named in honor of coaching legend Lefty Driesell, who is the only person to ever win 100 games at four different Division I schools. He is best known for his time at Maryland, leading the program to the National Invitational Tournament title in 1972 and its second-ever ACC Tournament Championship in 1984. He finished his career at Maryland with a 348-159 record and concluded his career with an impressive 786-394 mark.

The award was presented at the CollegeInsider.com awards banquet in New Orleans, site of the men's NCAA Basketball Championship.

>  2012 LEFTY DRIESELL DEFENSIVE ALL-AMERICA TEAM

Larry Anderson 6-5 Sr. Long Beach State
Quincy Acy 6-7 Sr. Baylor
Kent Bazemore 6-5 Sr. Old Dominion
Aaron Craft 6-2 So. Ohio State
Jae Crowder 6-6 Sr. Marquette
Anthony Davis 6-11 Fr. Kentucky
Gorgui Dieng 6-11 So. Louisville
Jontel Evans 5-11 Jr. Virginia
Draymond Green 6-7 Sr. Michigan State
Jorge Gutierrez 6-3 Sr. California
John Henson 6-11 Jr. North Carolina
Bernard James 6-10 Sr. Florida State
Fab Melo 7-0 So. Syracuse
C.J. McCollum 6-3 Jr. Lehigh
Victor Oladipo 6-5 So. Indiana
Jeff Taylor 6-7 Sr. Vanderbilt
Jeff Withey 7-0 Jr. Kansas


* Due to a tie in the voting there are 17 players on the team.

The Lefty Driesell Award, given annually to the top defensive player in Division I basketball, is named in honor of the legendary former coach. 
 
Driesell won 786 games in 41 years at Davidson, Maryland, James Madison and Georgia State. He ranks eighth on the NCAA career Division I coaches victories list and his teams at each stop were known for playing tenacious defense. From 1969-1986 at Maryland, his teams posted a 348-159 record, won two Atlantic Coast Conference regular season titles and one tournament title.
 
Driesell also led Davidson, Georgia State and James Madison to the NCAA tournament, making him one of three coaches to reach the NCAAs with four different programs. His teams won a total of 16 regular season championships and six tournament championships.
 
The recipient of the 2023-24 award will be announced in April, in Phoenix, AZ site of the men's NCAA Basketball Championship.
 
 

The Lefty Driesell award is presented annually to the top defensive player in division I college basketball, as voted on by the award committee.

The 10-member voting committee consists of current and former head coaches, as well as two senior staff members of collegeinsider.com.

The award is presented annually at the site of the men's Division I NCAA basketball championship. 

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