ATLANTA – UC San Diego senior point guard Hayden Gray has been named to the midseason watch list for the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Presented by Molecule award. Gray is one of 15 Division I men's athletes currently tracking for the honor, which will be presented at this year's Final Four in Glendale, Ariz.  
 
Gray currently leads all of Division I, averaging 3.36 steals per game. The San Diego native has registered four or more steals per game 11 times so far this season.
 
The Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Presented by Molecule award is handed out by the Atlanta Tip-Off Club. Named in honor of Dr. James Naismith, the creator of the game of basketball, the first Naismith trophy was awarded in 1969. A national voting academy of leading basketball coaches, administrators and journalists narrows the group down to four finalists based on player performance throughout the season. The final four Naismith finalists will make up the ballot and the player of the year is voted on by the group.
 
The Men's and Women's College Defensive Player of the Year have been awarded since 2018.
 
Gray and the Tritons begin the second half of their Big West schedule on Thursday night at home against UC Riverside.
 
About UC San Diego Athletics
After two decades as one of the most successful programs in NCAA Division II, the UC San Diego intercollegiate athletics program began a new era in 2020 as a member of The Big West Conference in NCAA Division I. The 23-sport Tritons earned 30 team and nearly 150 individual national championships during its time in Divisions II and III and helped guide 1,400 scholar-athletes to All-America honors. A total of 84 Tritons have earned Academic All-America honors, while 38 have earned prestigious NCAA Post Graduate Scholarships. UC San Diego scholar-athletes exemplify the academic ideals of one of the world's preeminent institutions, graduating at an average rate of 90 percent, the highest rate among public institutions in Divisions I and II.