George Washington University senior guard Yuta Watanabe was recognized during the men¡¯s basketball team¡¯s annual awards banquet on Sunday.
The Kagawa Prefecture native received the Patricio Garino Defensive Award after the team¡¯s regular season wrapped up last weekend. Watanabe led the team in blocks (1.6 per game) and defensive rebounds (5.0). He was second in steals (0.8) and was the team¡¯s top scorer (16.6).
¡°Consistently tasked with guarding the opposing team¡¯s top offensive threat, Watanabe has proven himself to be one of the top defenders in the nation,¡± a news released stated. ¡°He is third in school history in blocks, a member of the A-10 All-Defensive Team, and has repeatedly drawn praise from other coaches around the country after shutting down their best players.
¡°Miami¡¯s Jim Larranaga cited his versatility in calling him one of the top-10 defenders nationally, and Matt McCall of UMass referred to him simply as a mismatch nightmare.¡±
Up next: The 11th-seeded Colonials (14-17 overall, 7-11 in the Atlantic-10 Conference) play host to the 14th-seeded Fordham Rams in the A-10 Tournament opening round on Wednesday in Washington.
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