Gilyard Named To Midseason Team For 2020 Naismith Defensive Player of the Year

01/22/2020 | Men's Basketball

UNIVERSTY OF RICHMOND, Va. -- Spiders guard Jacob Gilyard has been named to the Midseason Team for the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year, the Atlanta Tipoff Club announced on Wednesday. Gilyard is one of 15 players named to the midseason team.

Gilyard is averaging 3.28 steals per game this season, best in Division I. On January 11th, Gilyard, a junior, become Richmond's career steals leader when he collected his 228th career steal against Saint Louis, breaking a record that had been held by Greg Beckwith for 34 years. Currently, Gilyard's 236 career steals rank third among active players in Division I.

Gilyard was named to the Atlantic 10's All-Defense Team last season after leading the conference with 2.84 steals per game, a figure that ranked seventh in the nation.