MANHATTAN, Kan. – Senior guard Barry Brown, Jr., has been named of 15 midseason candidates for the 2019 Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Award presented by Bona, as announced by the Atlanta Tipoff Club on Tuesday.
Brown was one of three Big 12 players named to the watch list, along with Texas Tech graduate transfers Matt Mooney and Tariq Owens. Other candidates include Gonzaga’s Brandon Clarke, UCF’s Tacko Fall, Maryland’s Bruno Fernando, Kentucky’s Ashton Hagans, Wisconsin’s Ethan Happ, Virginia’s De’Andre Hunter, Oregon State’s Kylor Kelley, Minnesota’s Jordan Murphy, Michigan’s Zavier Simpson, Washington’s Matisse Thybulle, Tennessee’s Grant Williams and Duke’s Zion Williamson.
A 6-foot-3, 195-pound three-year lettermen from St. Petersburg, Florida, Brown currently captains the nation’s fourth-best scoring defense (59.2 ppg.). The Wildcats rank among the national leaders in several defensive categories, including turnover margin (28th), 3-point field goal percentage defense (43rd) and field goal percentage defense (56th), and have held 11 of 18 opponents to 60 points or less this season.
The school’s all-time steals leader, Brown currently ranks 10th in Big 12 history with 222 steals, just two behind Baylor’s A.J. Walton (2009-13) and Oklahoma’s Hollis Price (1999-2003) for eighth place.
Brown leads the Wildcats in a number of categories, including scoring (15.4 ppg.), 20-point games (5), double-figure scoring games (14) and steals (33). He ranks among the career Top 10 in 11 different categories, including points (1,561/8th), double-digit scoring games (77, 7th), field goals made (556, 7th), field goals attempted (1,341, 5th), 3-point field goals made (151, 9th), 3-point field goals attempted (468, 7th), assists (301, 9th), steals (222, 1st), consecutive games played (123/t-2nd), consecutive starts (101, t-3rd) and minutes played (3,895/3rd).
An All-Big 12 Second Team selection and a member of the Big 12’s All-Defensive Team, Brown enjoyed a career-best season as a junior in 2017-18, averaging 15.9 points on 44.8 percent shooting (203-of-453), including 31.8 percent (42-of-132) from 3-point range, to go with 3.2 assists, 3.1 rebounds and 1.8 steals in 34.7 minutes per game. The team leader in double-digit scoring games (29), 20-point games (11), assists (120) and steals (67), he became the first Wildcat to post 500 points, 100 rebounds, 100 assists and 50 steals in a single season.