CHICAGO (March 24, 2022) – Lucas Williamson (Chicago, Ill./Whitney Young), a two-time Missouri Valley Conference Defensive Player of the Year, has been named a finalist for the Lefty Driesell Award, which is presented annually to the top defensive player in NCAA Division I men's basketball. The Loyola University Chicago guard has cemented his status as one of the nation's premier lockdown defenders and during his career helped the Ramblers to three NCAA Tournament berths and 124 wins.
During his illustrious career at Loyola, Williamson was a three-time MVC All-Defensive Team pick and he routinely harassed the oppositions' top perimeter player. Most notably, he put the clamps on prolific scorers such as Ayo Dosunmu of Illinois, limiting him to nine points on 4 of 10 shooting, while forcing six turnovers, in a NCAA Tournament victory last season; AJ Green of Northern Iowa, who he frustrated into 4 of 20 shooting from the field in a MVC Championship semifinal round win earlier this month; and Javon Freeman-Liberty (DePaul), who entered the game ranked third in the nation in scoring (23.5 ppg) but was limited to seven points on 2 of 9 shooting from the field earlier this season.
Loyola has ranked as one of the top defensive units in the nation during Williamson's tenure on campus, leading the nation in scoring defense in 2020-21 by yielding only 56.1 points per game.
In addition to his defensive prowess, Williamson also has closed out his collegiate career as Loyola's all-time winningest player (124 wins) and is also one of only 23 players in school history with at least 1,000 points (1,333) and 500 rebounds (574). He ranks second on the Ramblers' career lists in both steals (190) and three-point field goals made (222).
A former head coach at a handful of NCAA Division I institutions, most notably the University of Maryland, Driesell won 786 games in 41 seasons as a coach and his teams were known for playing tenacious defense.
The finalists for the 2022 Lefty Driesell Award follow.
2021-22 Lefty Driesell Defensive All-America Team
Fardaws Aimaq, Utah Valley
Reece Beekman, Virginia
Leaky Black, North Carolina
Johni Broome, Morehead State
Tevin Brown, Murray State
Kyler Edwards, Houston
Tari Eason, LSU
Jacob Gilyard, Richmond
Chet Holmgren, Gonzaga
Tyrese Hunter, Iowa State
Josiah-Jordan James, Tennessee
Austin Johnson, UC Irvine
Walker Kessler, Auburn
Christian Koloko, Arizona
Nathan Mensah, San Diego State
Caleb McConnell, Rutgers
Kevin McCullar, Texas Tech
Alex Morales, Wagner
Keegan Murray, Iowa
K.C. Ndefo, Saint Peter's
Norchad Omier, Arkansas State
Osun Osunniyi, Saint Bonaventure
Orlando Robinson, Fresno State
Jamarion Sharp, Western Kentucky
Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua, Baylor
Oscar Tshiebwe, Kentucky
Amari Williams, Drexel
Jaylin Williams, Arkansas
Mark Williams, Duke
Lucas Williamson, Loyola
