Pac-12 Conference Men's Basketball Defensive Player of the Year
Award
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The Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year is an annual college basketball award presented to the top defensive player in men's basketball in the Pac-12 Conference. The winner was selected by conference coaches, who were not allowed to vote for players on their own team.[1] The award began in 1984,[2] when the conference consisted of 10 teams and was known as the Pacific-10.[3] It stopped being issued starting in 1988 but was restarted in 2008.[4][5] The conference added two teams and became the Pac-12 in 2011.[3]
Jorge Gutiérrez of California (2012) and Evan Mobley of USC (2021) are the only players to also win the Pac-12 Player of the Year in the same season.[2][6] Gary Payton won both awards in separate seasons with Oregon State, capturing the defensive honor as a freshman in 1987 and the conference player of the year as a senior in 1990.[7][8] He credited Beavers coach Ralph Miller with molding him into a standout defender. Payton played 17 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA), and became the only point guard to be named the NBA Defensive Player of the Year.[7] His son, Gary Payton II, later played with Oregon State as well, and was voted the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year in 2015 and 2016.[9] He and Matisse Thybulle (2018, 2019) are the only repeat winners of the award.[10]
Winners
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| Season | Player | School | Class | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1983–84 | Butch Hays | California | Senior | |
| 1984–85 | Nigel Miguel | UCLA | Senior | |
| 1985–86 | Keith Morrison | Washington State | Senior | |
| 1986–87 | Gary Payton | Oregon State | Freshman | |
| 2007–08 | Russell Westbrook | UCLA | Sophomore | |
| 2008–09 | Taj Gibson | USC | Junior | |
| 2009–10 | Seth Tarver | Oregon State | Senior | |
| 2010–11 | Marcus Simmons | USC | Senior | |
| 2011–12 | Jorge Gutiérrez | California | Senior | |
| 2012–13 | André Roberson | Colorado | Senior | |
| 2013–14 | Jordan Bachynski | Arizona State | Senior | |
| 2014–15 | Gary Payton II | Oregon State | Junior | |
| 2015–16 | Gary Payton II (2) | Oregon State | Senior | |
| 2016–17 | Jordan Bell | Oregon | Junior | |
| 2017–18 | Matisse Thybulle | Washington | Junior | |
| 2018–19 | Matisse Thybulle (2) | Washington | Senior | |
| 2019–20 | Tyler Bey | Colorado | Junior | |
| 2020–21 | Evan Mobley | USC | Freshman | [16] |
| 2021–22 | Christian Koloko | Arizona | Sophomore | [17] |
| 2022–23 | Jaylen Clark | UCLA | Junior | [18] |
| 2023–24 | Adem Bona | UCLA | Sophomore | [19] |
Winners by school
| School | Winners | Years |
|---|---|---|
| Oregon State | 4 | 1987, 2010, 2015, 2016 |
| UCLA | 4 | 1985, 2008, 2023, 2024 |
| USC | 3 | 2009, 2011, 2021 |
| California | 2 | 1984, 2012 |
| Colorado | 2 | 2013, 2020 |
| Washington | 2 | 2018, 2019 |
| Arizona | 1 | 2022 |
| Arizona State | 1 | 2014 |
| Oregon | 1 | 2017 |
| Washington State | 1 | 1986 |
| Stanford | 0 | — |
| Utah | 0 | — |