Creighton's Ryan Kalkbrenner becomes four-time Big East defensive player of the year

Creighton’s fifth-year center was named Big East defensive player of the year for a fourth consecutive season, the league announced Monday, putting Kalkbrenner alongside Patrick Ewing as the only four-time winners in Big East history.

The 7-foot-1 rim protector averaged a league-leading 2.7 blocks per game in the regular season, the second most of his career and fourth in the country.

"That's crazy," Kalkbrenner said before Monday's practice. "Because I wouldn't think of myself in the same conversation as Patrick Ewing — at least not yet. It's definitely a huge honor to get that award."

With two rejections in Saturday’s win vs. Butler, Kalkbrenner passed Ewing to become the Big East’s all-time blocks leader.

Nobody in the history of the storied conference — not Ewing or Alonzo Mourning or Emeka Okafor or Hasheem Thabeet or Dikembe Mutumbo — has swatted more shots than Kalkbrenner (248) has in league games.

For as many shots as he got his hands on over the years, the countless other ones Kalkbrenner alters have him in rare air.

That’s why he’s a two-time finalist for the Naismith defensive player of the year, along with a three-time finalist for the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award, given to the best center in the country.

"His career has been incredible," coach Greg McDermott said. "The numbers that are on a piece of paper and what he's accomplished pales in comparison to what he's meant to the program outside the numbers.

"He's ushered us through one of the best eras in Creighton basketball history, and it built around him. It's been a heck of a ride."

Kalkbrenner, one of four unanimous All-Big East First Team selections, has wrecked games on both ends of the floor.

He averaged a career-high 19.4 points and a career-high 9.0 rebounds and hit a league-leading 66.3% of his career-high 11.7 attempts per game.

The best offensive output of his career, coupled with one last run as the Big East’s most impactful defender, helped Creighton pick up a program-record 15 conference wins to finish second in the league.

Nearly six months ago, Greg McDermott said at Big East media day that Kalkbrenner deserved more credit.

Not only was Kalkbrenner going to be one of the best players in Creighton history, McDermott said, but he would someday be looked upon as one of the best centers to ever play in the Big East.

Now, Kalkbrenner has the historic hardware to back that up.