Auburn tandem draws top individual honors from NABC

Auburn had quite a one-two punch of Jabari Smith and Walker Kessler this season. Tuesday, they both received big-time individual honors for their performances.

Smith won the NABC Freshman of the Year award while Kessler earned Defensive Player of the Year honors. They were two of the top players for Auburn this season as the Tigers clinched a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Smith burst onto the scene as a freshman for Bruce Pearl’s group this year. He averaged 16.9 points and 7.4 rebounds en route to SEC Freshman of the Year and consensus All-American honors. His name has come up in NBA Draft circles as a potential No. 1 pick, as well.

Smith also won the USBWA Freshman of the Year award, which further shows how impressive his freshman campaign was.

Kessler transferred to Auburn after a year at North Carolina and emerged as one of the nation’s top defensive players. He averaged 4.6 blocks per game to go with his 11.4 points and 8.1 rebounds per game. He also had two triple-doubles this year with points, rebounds and blocks — the most in Division I — and 15 games with 15 points and five blocks. Those stats were a big reason why he brought home the SEC Defensive Player of the Year award.

Auburn had quite a year in 2021-22, going 28-6 overall and 15-3 in SEC play. The Tigers ended up ranked No. 1 at one point in the season for the first time in program history. Their season came to an end in the NCAA Tournament against Miami in the second round, a 79-61 Hurricanes victory.

To round out the NABC awards, Kentucky center Oscar Tshiebwe won Player of the Year and Big Man of the Year awards. Arizona head coach Tommy Lloyd won NABC Coach of the Year after turning Arizona into a No. 1 seed in his first year as Wildcats coach.