Florida big man Rueben Chinyelu wins Naismith Defensive Player of the Year award
By Sydney Hunte
Published:
Rueben Chinyelu’s second season at Florida didn’t end with him and his Gators teammates cutting down the nets as national champions in back-to-back years.
The Gators’ center, though, was named the SEC defensive player of the year, received a second-team all-conference nod, and was named the NABC Defensive Player of the Year. He added to his list of personal accolades on Sunday, winning the Atlanta Tipoff Club’s Naismith Defensive Player of the Year award.
Chinyelu averaged a double-double with 10.9 points and a Division 1-best 11.2 rebounds while playing in every game for the Gators during the 2025-26 season. That included three games with 20 or more rebounds, including 21-rebound games against Merrimack on Nov. 21 and LSU on Jan. 20. His 19 double-doubles and 137 offensive rebounds were single-season school records, while his 393 total rebounds were good for third in program history.
The native of Nigeria began his career out West, signing with Washington State out of the NBA Academy in Senegal. He averaged 4.7 points and 5.0 rebounds as he played in 35 games (12 starts) as a freshman with the Cougars.
He then entered the transfer portal and landed at Florida, where he started and played in every game during the Gators’ championship season. In 19.0 minutes, he averaged 6.0 points and 6.6 rebounds, pulling down 15 boards against Tennessee on Jan. 7, 2025, for what was then a career high.
The 2025-26 campaign saw Chinyelu truly blossom into one of the country’s top defensive centers. Now, with a season of eligibility remaining, he’ll be faced with a decision to run it back for one more year or declare for the NBA Draft.
Sydney is an Atlanta-based journalist who has covered everything from SEC and ACC football to MLS, the U.S. men's national soccer team and professional tennis. His work has appeared on such platforms as SB Nation, Cox Media Group and FanSided.
