UConn center Amida Brimah has been named the American Athletic Conference’s Defensive Player of the Year. The shot-swatting sophomore blocked 3.4 shots per game this season — tied for the league lead with Memphis big Austin Nichols. Brimah’s higher cumulative total, the result of three additional games, most likely pushed him over the edge.
As his conference opponents will attest, Brimah’s defensive impact cannot be fully measured by block totals. He changes as many shots as he rejects, and scares timid opponents out of the paint when they encounter UConn’s seven-footer.
Brimah is averaging over one full block more per game this season than last season, the result of dramatically reducing his foul totals and staying on the court for ten additional minutes per contest.
The final conference awards will be handed out on Thursday. Having placed two on All-Conference teams yesterday, UConn may add more hardware to their trophy case (Ryan Boatright, Player of the Year and Daniel Hamilton, Rookie of the Year) before their quest for a conference championship begins.
