HOUSTON, TX -- Rutgers’ Caleb McConnell is the recipient of the 2023 Lefty Driesell National Defensive Player of the Year award.

The 6-foot-5 senior missed the first five games of the season with a knee injury but quickly returned to form, as a lock-down defender. McConnell averaged 2.5 steals-per-game with 71 steals, good for second in the conference. His 2.56 steals-per-game were good for seventh in the nation and first in the Big Ten Conference.

He finished his career first all-time on the Rutgers steals list (221) after tracking down the Rutgers’ great Eddie Jordan's 220 career steals with two steals in his final game at Rutgers.

“There were a lot of excellent defenders in college basketball this season, but Caleb McConnell was a cut above the rest,” said Angela Lento, Vice President of CollegeInsider.com. “His ability to guard all five spots on the floor was second to none. It was never a very pleasurable experience, for the top scorer on the other team, when Caleb McConnell was on the floor. His ability to defend will find him a home in the NBA.”

McConnell was the anchor of the top defensive team in the Big Ten and the seventh best in the nation, as Rutgers allowed 60.4 points-per-game. The Rutgers defense was the best in the shot-clock era and the best at RU since 1981. McConnell guards each team's top scorer and held them to some of their lowest scoring outputs of the season.

He became the first player in almost 20 seasons to win back-to-back Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year honors. He is the fifth player ever to win the award in two-straight seasons and the sixth player ever to win the award more than once in the conference.

McConnell also averaged 9.1 points. 5.5 rebounds and 3.1 assists per-game, helping the Scarlet Knights earn a No. 1 seed in the NIT.

The Lefty Driesell award is named in honor of the legendary coach who spent over four decades as a head 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 annual award is determined by a 10-member voting committee, which consists of current and former head coaches, as well as two senior staff members of collegeinsider.com.

2023 LEFTY DRIESELL DEFENSIVE ALL-AMERICA TEAM

Note: Some of the content from the press release came directly from Rutgers University media releases.