Kentucky freshman Ashton Hagans has been named a semifinalist for the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year award.
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ATLANTA – Ashton Hagans, who has spearheaded the Kentucky men’s basketball’ team’s surge as one of the best defensive teams in the country, is a semifinalist for the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year award.
Hagans was one of 10 players to appear on the Atlanta Tipoff Club’s late-season watch list on Thursday. The list includes players whose defensive efforts on the court have set them apart from the pack.
The 6-foot-3 guard out of Cartersville, Georgia, is one of just three freshmen (Tre Jones and Zion Williamson from Duke) among the semifinalists and one of only two players from the Southeastern Conference (Grant Williams, Tennessee).