BOSTON – University of Dayton junior DaRon Holmes II was named finalist Monday for the Lefty Driesell Award, which goes to the national defensive player of the year.  The honor is part of the collegeinsider.com award  program.  One of those awards is the Lute Olson College Player of the Year Award, which Holmes is also a finalist.

Each of those finalist lists consist of 25 student-athletes,  The junior forward from Goodyear, Ariz. is one of just six players on both lists.  The others are Boo Buie of Northwestern, Johni Broome of Auburn, Devin Carter of Providence, Zach Edey of Purdue and Jamal Shead of Houston.

Holmes was the 2024 Atlantic 10 Defensive Player of the Year.  He led the A-10 in rebounding (8.5) and was fourth in blocked shots (2.1).  He is the Dayton career blocks leader (215).

Holmes is also on the national ballot for the Los Angeles Athletic Club's Wooden Award and All-America Team, the national player of the year watch list for the USBWA's Oscar Robertson Trophy, as well as a finalist for the Basketball Hall of Fame's Karl Malone award. 

He has also been named to six All-America teams so far this season.  He was honored by the Associated Press (second team),  The Sporting News (second team), NABC (second team), USBWA (third team) ESPN.com (third team) and Field of 68 (third team) earlier this season.  
 
The recipient of the annual award is determined by a 10-member voting committee, which consists of current and former head coaches, as well as two senior staff members of collegeinsider.com.

Dayton finished 25-8 on the year, ending the season in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.