HOUSTON – University of Houston senior guard Marcus Sasser was named to the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Watch List, the Atlanta Tipoff Club announced Thursday.
One of the nation’s offensive stars, Sasser has been just as much of a leader for the Cougars on the defensive end of the court in 2022-23.
The Dallas native leads the Cougars and ranks seventh in the American Athletic Conference with 1.9 steals per game. Sasser has recorded at least one steal in all but five games with multiple steals in 10 contests this season.
A four-year letterman, Sasser leads the defensive efforts in the backcourt for the Cougars, who lead the nation in scoring margin (+21.2 ppg), rank second in the country in field goal percentage defense (34.7) and scoring defense (54.2 ppg) and stand fourth in 3-point field goal percentage defense (26.0).
The Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Award is annually presented to the nation's most outstanding defensive basketball player who achieves tremendous on-court success. The award has been presented annually since 1969.
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Sasser has been a leader for Houston as the Cougars have competed among the nation’s Top-Five teams in both polls throughout the 2022-23 season.
The Dallas native leads the Cougars and ranks seventh in The American with 16.6 points per game and has drained a team-high 57 3-pointers this season. He also ranks second among the Cougars and among The American’s Top-15 leaders with 3.2 assists and a 2.23 assist-turnover ratio.
He became the 50th 1,000-point scorer in Houston history earlier this season and stands 29th in Houston career history with 1,202 points to date.
Sasser also ranks fourth in Houston career history with 237 3-pointers and needs only 25 more treys to set the school record in that category.