Duke basketball: Tre Jones falls short in Defensive Player of Year race

Duke basketball point guard Tre Jones fell short for the second time in his career in the race to be named as the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year.

As the college basketball world tries to adjust to the new social distancing measures the country has been advised to follow, the major awards for the 2019-20 season have been forced to take place virtually.

The first of those was announced on CBS Sports HQ on Wednesday afternoon in the Men’s and Women’s Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Award.

More from Ball Durham

Duke sophomore point guard Tre Jones was a finalist for the award for the second season in a row after losing to senior Matisse Thybulle of Washington last season.

Jones was joined by Kansas’ Marcus Garrett, Kentucky’s Ashton Hagans, and Baylor’s Mark Vital as the nominees for the award this season.

The Blue Devil guard averaged 1.8 steals, 4.2 rebounds, and 0.3 blocks per game in his sophomore campaign, but he ultimately fell short in the voting once again as Marcus Garrett was named as the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year.

Garrett, the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year, averaged 1.8 steals, 4.5 rebounds, and 0.3 blocks per game for the Kansas Jayhawks, leaving the question open to if the tiebreaker for the award was team success or individual success, as the answer seems very clear.

ALSO READ: Tre Jones’ stellar play in final season

In addition to being the ACC Defensive Player of the Year, Jones was also the Player of the Year, averaging 16.2 points per game compared to Garrett’s 9.2 points per game.

ALSO READ: Tre Jones named ACC Player of Year, Vernon Carey Jr. Rookie of Year

Kansas ended the “season” ranked as the No. 1 team in the Associated Press Top-25 Poll while Duke finished at No. 11.

ALSO READ: Tre Jones officially declares for 2020 NBA Draft

While Garrett will almost certainly return to Lawrence for his senior season, Tre Jones is off to the NBA as the sophomore declared for the 2020 Draft since his game is far more advanced and NBA-ready than the Jayhawks wing.

Tre Jones was named to the ACC’s All-Defensive Team in back-to-back seasons.

Home/Duke Basketball