ATLANTA – UCLA junior Jaylen Clark has been named to the 15-man watch list for this season's Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Award, as announced on Thursday by the Atlanta Tipoff Club.
 
Clark, a 6-foot-5 guard from Riverside, Calif., is the only player from the Pac-12 Conference listed among the 15 midseason candidates for the defensive award (complete list available here).
 
Clark has been a vital part of the Bruins' team this season, averaging 13.9 points, 7.0 rebounds and a Pac-12-leading 2.68 steals per game this season. He has helped anchor a Bruins' defense that currently ranks No. 1 in the Pac-12 and No. 10 in the country in scoring defense (59.8 points allowed per game).
 
Clark leads the Pac-12 in steals (51) and ranks No. 9 in the conference in rebounding (7.0 rpg). He ranks seventh in the Pac-12 in defensive rebounds per game (4.89) and is tied for the team lead in total defensive rebounds (93).
 
Clark has registered career high averages this season in scoring (13.9 ppg), rebounding (7.0 rpg), assists (1.8) and steals (2.68 spg). Clark has totaled a career-best 51 steals and six blocks, having played in 19 games, nearly two-thirds of the way through UCLA's season. Clark's steals per game average (2.68) ranks No. 5 in the nation, through games played on Wednesday, Jan. 25. 
 
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. Last season, Auburn's Walker Kessler was honored with the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Award.
 
UCLA has had three former players win the national defensive award – Marques Johnson in 1977, Bill Walton in 1972, 1973 and 1974, and Lew Alcindor (now Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) in 1969. Alcindor was the first-ever recipient of the award during his senior season at UCLA (1968-69).
 
Earlier this month, Clark and UCLA teammates Jaime Jaquez Jr. were among two of the nation's top 25 players listed to the midseason watch list for the John R. Wooden Award, annually presented by the Los Angeles Athletic Club to the nation's top college basketball player.
 
No. 8-ranked UCLA returns to action at USC on Thursday, Jan. 26. Game time at USC's Galen Center is scheduled for 6 p.m. (PT). UCLA's game at USC will be nationally televised on ESPN2. The Bruins' radio broadcast will be available on AM 1150.