Penn State guard Ace Baldwin Jr. named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year

For the third time in program history, Penn State men’s basketball has had a player win Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year.

Point guard Ace Baldwin Jr. was announced as the winner of the award Tuesday afternoon. He joins Josh Reaves (2019) and Calvin Booth (1998) as Nittany Lion men’s basketball players to win the honor.

Baldwin was also named third team all-conference by both the coaches and the media and to the all-defensive team.

He achieved the defensive honors after finishing with 2.7 steals per game to lead the conference. Baldwin wins the award after taking home the Atlantic-10 defensive player of the year award after last season when he was at VCU. The lead guard has been the head of the snake for a Penn State defense that pressures the ball heavily.

Baldwin was joined in being honored by Qudus Wahab, Zach Hicks and Nick Kern Jr., who were all named as all-conference honorable mentions, while Puff Johnson was named the program’s recipient of the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award.

Wahab is the only player among the four who is out of college eligibility after this season.