3/8/2022 basketball Edit

Caleb McConnell happy, humble, & thankful after winning B1G's DPOY award

Chris Nalwasky • TheKnightReport

Beat Writer

Caleb McConnell became Rutgers' first-ever Big Ten's Defensive Player of the Year Award winner on Tuesday. Coaches from every team in the league voted the Jacksonville, Fla. native as the conference's top defender.

Rutgers held a fake "team meeting" and sat in front of the television together to watch the award announcements earlier this afternoon. Everybody clapped and made noise to congratulate the senior on the honor.

"I'm definitely surprised. I'm definitely happy that my team was there with me when it got announced. It was definitely a cool feeling especially getting an award like that," McConnell said. "It was fun. It was awesome. You know how they do Rutgers all the time, so I was kind of surprised when I got it, but I was definitely happy. Definitely humble about it and I'm very thankful."

GET TKR PREMIUM FREE FOR 30 DAYS — CLICK HERE FOR MORE

McConnell also earned a spot on the Big Ten's All-Defensive Team alongside Illinois' Trent Frazier, Indiana's Trayce Jackson-Davis, E.J. Liddell of Ohio State, and Eric Hunter Jr. of Purdue.

The 6-foot-7, 200-pounder leads the conference with 67 steals and 2.23 steals-per-game. He is seventh nationally in the steals. In Big Ten play alone, McConnell recorded 43 steals and 2.15 steals-per-game. His six steals in the road win at Wisconsin was the most by any player this year.

Over a five-game stretch, McConnell tallied 21 steals, which was the most in the Big Ten since 2002-03, and in four-straight games he had four or more to help the Scarlet Knights knock-off ranked teams in Michigan State, Ohio State, Wisconsin, and Illinois.

McConnell notched a game-changing chase-down block in the final few minutes in the victory over Ohio State that ignited a 10-0 run.

"I was surprised just because I was reading some things that I might not get it, and like I mentioned earlier about how the media does Rutgers. But the staff here did an amazing job pushing that out and putting the world on notice of how I defend and how I can cause pressure on the defensive end," McConnell told TKR. "I feel like our staff did a great job of that just trying to put America on notice. Shout out to them. They were pushing stuff out like I was gonna win Player of the Year or something. I was definitely happy man just to see that. It just came down to my work. The work showed and the stats show it. I feel like I make a huge impact on the defensive end, and I feel like I that's why I won the award."

Last week, McConnell was selected as a semifinalist for the 2022 Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Award. The winner of that award will be announced on April 3.

"Nobody else guards like that to me that's 6-foot-7 that can guard whoever," McConnell added. "I just disrupt the offense and I feel like that's why I got Defensive Player of the Year. I also feel like I'm also the national Defensive Player of the Year as well."

The last Scarlet Knight to win the award was Hamady N'Diaye in 2009-10, when Rutgers was a member of the Big East Conference.

"Yeah I know a little bit about him actually," McConnell said. "I think he was drafted in the second round. It's good to be in his company, and I'm glad I got Defensive Player of the Year, and I'm glad that my name is officially stamped here forever."

McConnell wasn't known in the past for his defense like he is now. He's grown into the role as a defensive stopper. McConnell set the goal to be the Big Ten's DPOY and now he achieved it.

"It's funny because I never really liked defense. I was average at it," McConnell said. "Everyone wants to score the ball and make plays, but when it comes to defensive, I feel like it's just will. I feel like here, our will to win is is really off the charts. I want to win so bad. Going to the tournament in previous years and coming up short or finishing down in the standings, I think it kind of helped me build up to now.

"My knowledge of the game and my IQ, I just got a feel of where guys are gonna be and how the play is gonna be ran and stuff like that. I just want to stop the other guy. We got some awesome players in this league and I always look up to that challenge to guarding whoever and doing whatever it takes for my team to win. It does take skill, but I think I think deep down it's really effort and heart."

All five starters received some kind of Big Ten recognition on Tuesday. Rutgers is the No. 4 seed heading into the Big Ten Tournament. The Scarlet Knights play Friday in the quarterfinals at about 2:00 p.m. against an opponent that is not yet fully known depending on previous round results.

"The feeling is amazing around here. In previous years Rutgers was always at the bottom. To finish in fourth place in the Big Ten is awesome," McConnell said. "It goes to show you how good the league was. It's very exciting to be the No. 4. We finally get a little break heading into the Big Ten Tournament versus playing right away, so it's definitely a good feeling. We have to get prepared for Friday and just lock on whoever we play and go from there.

"We already beat number one, number two, number three, five, six, and seven. We can beat anybody. Going into this year we also scrimmage UConn and Villanova and we hung with those guys. So whoever we get matched up with in this Big Ten Tournament and also in the NCAA Tournament, we know we can take care of business."