Florida's Chinyelu Named Naismith Defensive Player Finalist

0:00On March 27th, Florida Center Rubin Chenyelu has been named one of four finalists for the Naesmith Defensive Player of the Year award. He joins Kansas Forward, Florey Bedunga, St. John's Forward, Zubi Ejafor, and Houston Forward, Joseph Tuggler. Chenyelu stood out this past season by leading the southeastern conference in rebounds. During his junior year, Chenyelu averaged 11.2 rebounds per game with 7.3 on defense, ranking 4th in the nation. He set a four to record with 19 double doubles and became the first gator in 50 years to average double figures on the boards. He also grabbed the program record 137 offensive rebounds, putting his 393 total boards third in school. History. On top of that, he averaged 10.9 points in one block per game while earning southeastern conference defensive player of the year, Scholar. Athlete of the Year, and spots on the all defensive in first team all southeastern conference squads. Chenyelu credits his teammates for pushing him, saying the awards are nice, but the real

1:05focus is the team's bigger goals. That team first mindset helped sharpen his play all season. Fans can help decide the winner with a vote at nasmithfandvote.com open from March 27th through noon eastern on April 1st, one vote. Per day counts for 5% of the total. The champion gets revealed Sunday April 5th at the nasmith awards brunch in Indianapolis during the men's final four weekend.