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Wright Named Lefty Driesell Finalist
3/30/2015 2:59:00 PM | Men's Basketball
BOSTON, Mass. - The finalists for the 2015 Lefty Driesell National Defensive Player of the Year award were announced on Monday with Louisiana guard Jay Wright being named to the 25-player list.
Wright will be attempting to claim the award for the Ragin' Cajuns for the second straight season after former guard Elfrid Payton took home the award a year ago.
The sophomore guard was an all-Sun Belt Conference third team selection following the regular season and made a name for himself as one of the top on-ball defenders in the SBC. Wright was second on the team with 0.9 steals per game, but routinely drew assignments of checking the opponent's top perimeter player.
He had multiple steals on nine occasions, posting a season-high of three swipes in a December win over eventual Conference USA champion Louisiana Tech.
Wright also made big contributions offensively from his point guard spot, ranking in the top 10 in the SBC in both assists and assist/turnover ratio. He averaged 9.1 points per game for the season, shooting .406 from beyond the three-point line, posting a season-high 20 points in wins over Troy and Georgia Southern.
The Lefty Driesell 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 recipient of the 2015 award will be announced at the CollegeInsider.com Awards Banquet on April 3 in Indianapolis, site of the 2015 men's division I basketball championship.
2015 LEFTY DRIESELL ALL-AMERICA TEAM
Karl-Anthony Towns, Kentucky
Darion Atkins, Virginia
Gary Bell Jr., Gonzaga
Malcolm Brogdon, Virginia
Willie Cauley-Stien, Kentucky
Rakeem Christmas, Syracuse
Kyle Collinsworth, BYU
Tekele Cotton, Wichita State
Demarcus Daniels North Florida
Nnanna Egwu, Illinois
Jerian Grant, Notre Dame
Jelani Hewitt, Georgia Southern
Anthony Hickey, Oklahoma State
Brice Johnson, North Carolina
Reggie Lynch, Illinois State
T.J. McConnell, Arizona
Jordan Mickey, LSU
Shonn Miller, Cornell
Larry Nance, Wyoming
Josh Richardson, Tennessee
Richard Ross, Old Dominion
Justin Tuoyo, Chattanooga
Corey Walden, Eastern Kentucky
Julian Washburn, UTEP
Briante Weber, VCU
Jay Wright, Louisiana-Lafayette
Wright will be attempting to claim the award for the Ragin' Cajuns for the second straight season after former guard Elfrid Payton took home the award a year ago.
The sophomore guard was an all-Sun Belt Conference third team selection following the regular season and made a name for himself as one of the top on-ball defenders in the SBC. Wright was second on the team with 0.9 steals per game, but routinely drew assignments of checking the opponent's top perimeter player.
He had multiple steals on nine occasions, posting a season-high of three swipes in a December win over eventual Conference USA champion Louisiana Tech.
Wright also made big contributions offensively from his point guard spot, ranking in the top 10 in the SBC in both assists and assist/turnover ratio. He averaged 9.1 points per game for the season, shooting .406 from beyond the three-point line, posting a season-high 20 points in wins over Troy and Georgia Southern.
The Lefty Driesell 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 recipient of the 2015 award will be announced at the CollegeInsider.com Awards Banquet on April 3 in Indianapolis, site of the 2015 men's division I basketball championship.
2015 LEFTY DRIESELL ALL-AMERICA TEAM
Karl-Anthony Towns, Kentucky
Darion Atkins, Virginia
Gary Bell Jr., Gonzaga
Malcolm Brogdon, Virginia
Willie Cauley-Stien, Kentucky
Rakeem Christmas, Syracuse
Kyle Collinsworth, BYU
Tekele Cotton, Wichita State
Demarcus Daniels North Florida
Nnanna Egwu, Illinois
Jerian Grant, Notre Dame
Jelani Hewitt, Georgia Southern
Anthony Hickey, Oklahoma State
Brice Johnson, North Carolina
Reggie Lynch, Illinois State
T.J. McConnell, Arizona
Jordan Mickey, LSU
Shonn Miller, Cornell
Larry Nance, Wyoming
Josh Richardson, Tennessee
Richard Ross, Old Dominion
Justin Tuoyo, Chattanooga
Corey Walden, Eastern Kentucky
Julian Washburn, UTEP
Briante Weber, VCU
Jay Wright, Louisiana-Lafayette
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