OMAHA, Neb. -- Creighton center Ryan Kalkbrenner has been named 2023 BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year for the second straight season. Kalkbrenner is just the 11th player in league history to win the recognition more than once, joining the likes of Patrick Ewing, Alonzo Mourning, Dikembe Mutombo, Kris Dunn and Allen Iverson among those to win the award multiple times, and is the first repeat winner since former Bluejay guard Khyri Thomas in 2017 and 2018.
Creighton has now had a BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year in four of the past seven seasons.