Crawford named Lefty Driesell Defensive Player of the Year finalist

RUSTON – Louisiana Tech’s Isaiah Crawford was named one of 25 finalists for 2023-24 Lefty Driesell Defensive Player of the Year, an award presented annually to the top defensive player in Division I college basketball.

Crawford was also recently named a finalist for the Lou Henson National Player of the Year Award. It adds to his long list of postseason honors which include CUSA Player of the Year, CUSA Defensive Player of the Year, First Team All-CUSA, NABC First Team All-District, and CUSA All-Defensive Team.

The Fort Worth, Texas native helped the Bulldogs have the No. 1 defense in the league and one of the top defenses in the country, ranking sixth in field goal percentage defense (39.1) and 16th in scoring defense (64.5).

LA Tech held 20 opponents to under 40 percent shooting, tied for the third most in the nation, while also holding eight of its 16 conference foes to under 60 points.

Crawford registered five double-doubles on the season while averaging a career-best 6.2 rebounds per game, which ranked seventh in CUSA. He also ranked top three in the league and top 60 in the country in both steals per game (2.13) and blocks per game (1.72).

He tallied 68 total steals, which ranked 29th most in the country and fourth most in program history, while also amassing 55 blocks. As a result, he became only the second Division I player in the last five seasons and just the third player in CUSA history to register 60+ steals and 50+ blocks in a single season.

The forward recorded at least one steal in 29 of the 32 games including 11 contests with at least three steals, highlighted by his six steals at Liberty, and tallied multiple blocks in 17 games including a career-high seven in an overtime win versus Liberty at home. He had multiple steals and blocks in 10 games, tied for the most in the country.

Crawford becomes the third Bulldog in program history (Speedy Smith, 2014 and Magnum Rolle, 2010) to be named a finalist for the Lefty Driesell Defensive Player of the Year award.

The Lefty Driesell award is named in honor of the legendary coach who spent over four decades as a head coach. Driesell won 786 games in 41 years at Davidson, Maryland, James Madison, and Georgia State.

The recipient of the annual award is determined by a 10-member voting committee, which consists of current and former head coaches, as well as two senior staff members of CollegeInsider.com.

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2024 Lefty Driesell Defensive Player of the Year Award Finalists
Justin Abson, Appalachian State
Adrian “Ace Baldwin Jr., Penn State
Reece Beekman, Virginia
Adem Bona, UCLA
Boo Buie, Northwestern
Johni Broome, Auburn
Devin Carter, Providence
Isaiah Cozart, Eastern Kentucky
Isaiah Crawford, Louisiana Tech
Ryan Dunn, Virginia
Zach Edey, Purdue
KiAndre Gaddy, Tarleton State
Andersson Garcia, Texas A&M
Dajuan Harris Jr., Kansas
DaRon Holmes II, Dayton
Ryan Kalkbrenner, Creighton
Malevy Leons, Bradley
Tamin Lipsey, Iowa State
Bez Mbeng, Yale
Clifford Omoruyi, Rutgers
Jamal Shead, Houston
Charles Thompson, Towson
Kellen Tynes Jr., Maine
Amari Williams, Drexel
Zakai Zeigler, Tennessee