Atlanta – The list of four finalist for the Naismith National Defensive Player of the Year award has been announced and it includes a Cyclone. Iowa State sophomore Tamin Lipsey made the final list, announced Thursday morning.
Lipsey is the only sophomore on the list, joining three seniors. He is joined on the list by Zach Edey (Purdue), Ryan Kalkbrenner (Creighton) and Jamal Shead (Houston). The winner will be announced on April 7 at the Naismith Awards Brunch at the Phoenix Art Museum during the Final Four.
Earlier this week, Lipsey was named an Honorable Mention All-American by the Associated Press. Lipsey is the first Cyclone to earn All-American honors since Marial Shayok in 2019 and the first Cyclone to earn AP All-America honors since Georges Niang in 2016.
The awards have been rolling in for Lipsey, who was selected to the Big 12 Championship All-Tournament team this past weekend after leading the Cyclones to their sixth Big 12 Championship. He was also named an NABC First Team All-District selection.
Lipsey has been stuffing the stat sheet all season, averaging 12.3 points, 4.9 assists, 4.7 rebounds and 2.8 steals per game. He is one of just 14 NCAA Division I men’s basketball players since 1996-97 to average those numbers in a season. Lipsey has also been named to the All-Big 12 First Team and Big 12 All-Defensive Team this season.
The No. 4 Cyclones return to action Thursday night, facing South Dakota State in the NCAA Tournament First Round. Iowa State is seeded second in the East Region, while the Jackrabbits are a No. 15 Seed. Tipoff is set for 6:35 p.m. in Omaha and will be broadcast on truTV.
