Auburn's Walker Kessler Named 2022 Naismith Defensive Player of the Year

Walker Kessler's defense was a major reason the Auburn Tigers men's basketball team won the SEC regular-season title during the 2021-22 campaign, and he was officially rewarded for it Sunday.

The Auburn big man was named the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year:

Kessler was already recognized as a member of the All-SEC First Team, All-SEC Defensive Team and the conference's Defensive Player of the Year.

The forward, who started his collegiate career at North Carolina before transferring to the Tigers, averaged 11.4 points, 8.1 rebounds and a head-turning 4.6 blocks per game this past season. He also shot 60.8 percent from the field as a double-double threat every time he stepped on the floor.

It's not often a player gets a triple-double in college basketball and even rarer that it happens with blocks instead of assists, but Kessler did so twice this season. 

He notched 16 points, 11 blocks and 10 rebounds in a December victory over a ranked LSU team and then posted 12 points, 12 blocks and 11 rebounds in a February win over Texas A&M. He also just missed a triple-double with 13 points, 10 rebounds and nine blocks in an NCAA tournament win over Jacksonville State.

Despite the impressive campaign that ended in being recognized as the nation's best defender, Kessler's season ended in disappointment.

He finished with just two points, two rebounds and two blocks in 13 minutes during Auburn's 79-61 loss to Miami in the second round of the Big Dance. Kessler spent much of the first half on the bench because of foul trouble and was unable to establish his typical rhythm when he was on the floor.

Yet Kessler did enough throughout the season, especially on the defensive side, to catch the attention of NBA scouts.

Bleacher Report's Jonathan Wasserman projected the Auburn star as a first-round pick to the Milwaukee Bucks in his most recent mock draft.