Beekman Named Semifinalist for Naismith Men’s Defensive Player of the Year

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Virginia’s Reece Beekman was named a semifinalist for the Naismith Men’s Defensive Player of the Year, announced Wednesday (March 13).

Beekman earned ACC Defensive Player of the Year honors for the second straight season, joining Duke’s Sheldon Williams (2005-06) and North Carolina’s John Henson (2011-12) as the only players to win the award twice.

Beekman anchored the nation’s third-ranked defense, finishing second in the ACC in with 2.1 steals per game and guarding the opponents’ top perimeter player each game. Beekman became UVA’s all-time steals leader, passing Othell Wilson with three steals at Duke on March 2.

Beekman led the ACC in assists (6.0 apg) and assist/turnover ratio (2.91) and ranked 11th in field goal percentage (46.1%) and 15th in scoring (14.3 ppg).

Joining Beekman as semifinalists were Ace Baldwin (Penn State), Johni Broome (Auburn), Devin Carter (Providence), Zach Edey (Purdue), Ryan Kalkbrenner (Creighton), Tamin Lipsey (Iowa State), Kevin McCullar Jr. (Kansas), Jamal Shead (Houston) and Zakai Zeigler (Tennessee).