University of Connecticut Athletics
Demary Jr. Named To Naismith DPOY Late-Season Team
2/27/2026 12:01:00 PM | Men's Basketball
ATLANTA – UConn men's basketball junior Silas Demary Jr. has been named to the Naismith Men's College Defensive Player of the Year Presented by MOLECULE Late-Season Team, as announced by the Atlanta Tipoff Club on Friday (Feb. 27). Demary Jr. is one of 15 defensive standouts on the Late-Season Team, one of five guards and one of two BIG EAST players to make the list.
Demary Jr. has been the catalyst of UConn's defensive turnaround this season, acting as the 'head of the snake' at the point of attack on its top-10 defensive unit. The Huskies currently check in at No. 9 in Kenpom defensive efficiency, a year after finishing 75th and spending much of the season in the 100s.
He leads the Huskies and is top-10 in the BIG EAST with 1.7 steals per game, but his impact on the perimeter goes far beyond that. Demary Jr. has helped UConn hold opponents to 5.8 made 3-pointers per game, eighth-fewest nationally, on 30.0 percent shooting. The Huskies are sixth in the country with a 44.6 effective field goal percentage against and are limiting foes to 44.9 percent from two-point range, eighth best in the NCAA.
Demary Jr. has helped charged UConn into a top-15 scoring defense, limiting foes to 65.1 points per game. Connecticut is 14th in the country with a 39.6 field goal percentage defense and check in first in the BIG EAST in both scoring margin (+13.9) and rebound margin (+5.0). His efforts funneling the defense into 'the trees' has helped UConn rank eighth in the country with a 15.8 percent block rate and 10th with 5.6 swats per game.
The Huskies are coming off a defensive masterpiece on Wednesday night, holding No. 15 St. John's to a paltry 40 points on 19.6 percent shooting in a 32-point romp. Demary Jr. spearheaded an effort that saw the Red Storm go the final 17:28 of regulation without a made basket, finishing 0 for its final 24 from the field. It marked the first time a team has held a top-15 foe under 20 percent shooting since 2014 and the first time UConn has held any foe under 20 percent since the 2011 National Championship game.
Demary Jr. will seek to bring home UConn's fifth National Defensive Player of the Year honor with Emeka Okafor ('03, '04) and Hasheem Thabeet ('08, '09) each taking the honor twice.
