Caleb McConnell earns Co-Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year

For a second straight season, Caleb McConnell has been named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year. The league announced its annual honors on Tuesday. McConnell will share the award with Northwestern’s Chase Audige. McConnell is the Big Ten’s first two-time winner of the award since Ohio State’s Aaron Craft (2012, 2014) and first to do it back to back since Purdue’s Kenny Lowe (2003, 2004). In addition, McConnell was named an Honorable Mention All-Big Ten Selection by the conference.

McConnell led the Big Ten in averaging 2.6 steals per game in 19 league games, which is 0.4 more than last season. Audige was second with 2.4 steals per game in conference action. In Sunday’s head to head matchup, McConnell swiped 6 steals to pass Myles Mack for second all-time in steals in program history.

Rutgers finished the Big Ten regular season No. 1 in scoring defense and defensive efficiency. McConnell was a big reason why.

The Scarlet Knight also improved his steal rate in Big Ten play from 4.4% last season to 4.7% this season. He also finished in the top 25 in the Big Ten with 4.0 defensive rebounds per game and a solid defensive rebounding rate of 13.7%. McConnell has left his mark on the program in many ways during a standout career.

“Caleb McConnell is not only the best defender in the conference, but the best in the whole country,” head coach Steve Pikiell said. “I can do so much more defensively with McConnell’s ability to guard positions 1 through 5. People always want to talk about scorers in this league. They should be talking about the amount of points Caleb takes off the board for the other team. He is paramount to our team’s defensive success night in and night out.”