HOUSTON – Postseason recognition continues to pour in for University of Houston senior point guard Jamal Shead as he has been named a Finalist for the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year by the Atlanta Tipoff Club. The official announcement was made Thursday morning.
After earning unanimous Consensus First-Team All-American status earlier this week, Shead was one of four finalists for the award. He was joined by Purdue center Zach Edey, Creighton center Ryan Kalkbrenner and Iowa State guard Tamin Lipsey.
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Under the leadership of Houston Head Coach Kelvin Sampson, Shead and the Cougars lead the nation in in scoring defense (57.0 ppg), turnover margin (7.1) and field goal percentage defense (37.9, 1st) and ranks among the country’s Top 10 in turnovers per game (8.9, 7th) and steals per game (10.0, 7th).
The Cougars have held 21 opponents to 60 or fewer points and rank third in the country with a +16.1 scoring margin.
In the Houston records book, Shead has recorded 21 games with multiple steals with 12 games with 3+ thefts, including a season-high six steals against rival Texas in a home win inside the Fertitta Center on Feb. 17.
The Manor, Texas, native ranks third in Houston history with 223 steals and is tied for seventh in school single-season history with 77 steals to date.
Shead has been a leader for the Cougars throughout his career and never more so than during the 2023-24 season. He owns a 118-17 record in more than three seasons during his Houston career and needs only four more victories in 2023-24 to become the winningest player in school history.
He was named the Player of the Year by the league office and the Associated Press and also was named the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year, becoming the first player in Big 12 history to accomplish that feat.
It was also the second straight season in his second different league in which Shead was named Conference Defensive Player of the Year.
He joined forward and Houston great Bo Outlaw as the only Cougars to accomplish that feat.
Shead stands second among the Cougars with 13.1 points per game. Shead also leads Houston and ranks among the Big 12 Top-Five leaders in assists per game (6.2, 3rd), steals per game (2.3, 3rd) and assist-turnover ratio (3.15, 2nd).
Shead is the only student-athlete to rank among the nation’s Top-20 leaders in all three categories.
He was named the Big 12 Player of the Week twice during the regular season and was recognized as the Naismith Trophy Player of the Week for Feb. 26 and the Oscar Robertson National Player of the Week for Jan. 23.
Shead has scored double-digit points in 25 games, including 11 of the last 12. He also dished out 10+ assists in four games this season with a career-high 29-point, 10-assist performance at #21/19 BYU on Jan. 23. He is the only Cougar to record points-rebounds AND points-assists double-doubles in 2023-24.
