Thabeet named National Defensive Player of the Year

UConn sophomore center Hasheem Thabeet has been named the 2007-08 NABC National Defensive Player of the Year and will be honored Sunday evening at the AT&T/NABC Guardians of the Game awards show at the Lila Cockrell Theatre.

Thabeet's selection marks the third time in six seasons that UConn has had the nation's top defensive player and he becomes the second Husky to earn the honor, joining Emeka Okafor (2003, 04).

Thabeet averaged 4.5 blocks per game this season, ranking No. 3 nationally and leading the Big East for the second straight season. He averaged 5.2 blocks per game in league play and his 94 total blocks inleague play set a new conference record, breaking the old mark of 93 held by Alonzo Mourning (set in 1991-92).

Thabeet was also named the Big East Defensive Player of the Year, an All-Big East Second Team and was also an All-District Second Team selection by the NABC. He's expected to decide in the coming weeks if he'll return for a third season in Storrs or declare for the NBA draft, where he's been pegged as a probably first-round selection.

Jim Calhoun was also honored Sunday with the Coaches vs. Cancer Champion Award, which recognizes a coach who has shown dedication and devotion to the American Cancer Society’s fight against cancer. It is the highest honor of the Coaches vs. Cancer program. A prostate cancer survivor himself, Calhoun has been involved with the Coaches vs. Cancer program since 1997, and has served on its council for roughly four years. Through efforts with the Coaches vs. Cancer nationwide Golf Invitational, the Calhoun Bike-a-thon and Hoops for Hope galas, Calhoun, with his wife Pat, has helped raise close to $1 million to support the ACS.